Cold Steel
by KonigstigerAce334
Summary: A few years after the finals in which Ooarai won, Kuromorimine Girls High School has been invited to Abashiri, Japan for a friendly match against their long-time rival, Pravda GHS. But when a mysterious anomaly brings historical forces into play on the battlefield, the two teams must forget their past and band together to save themselves and prevent disaster from striking.
1. Prolouge

**Hey all. This is my first Girls Und Panzer fanfic that I'll be doing, and hope you will all enjoy it. Opinions are welcome (constructive criticism included) so feel free to tell me what you think!**

 **Thanks to OverwatchTrooper12 for indirectly inspiring me to write this with his great series, Trouble on the Homefront. Also, thanks to kartracer24 and VentXekart for their assistance so far.**

 **As a side note, these first few chapters will be a bit short, as is a habit of my writing style. Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

 **Prologue**

" _Danger has a bracing effect."-_ Sun Tzu

 **29 December 2016**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **Unconfirmed Location**

 **Practice Battle between Kuromorimine and Pravda**

 **1921 hours**

"Unusually cold weather this year, don't you think?"

The crew of Pravda's hidden IS-2 looked to their commander, who was looking around the viewports provided in the cupola. They all hummed an affirmative answer before returning to their previous activities. The winter this year on Hokkaido was setting records for temperature and snowfall, not to mention making it hard for Sensha-do battles to take place. The cold had a bad habit of freezing the oil in the engines.

"I hope it will be a warm summer next year though." the young driver commented, eliciting a soft chuckle from the other three in the tank. "What about you Nonna?"

The tall young woman let a trace of a smile cross her face as she thought of an answer. "I suppose a warm summer would be appropriate, Shizuka. Though you know I don't mind the cold."

The cabin of the sleek heavy tank quieted back down as the four high school students awaited the enemy or new orders, whichever would come first.

* * *

 **Unconfirmed Location**

 **1928 hours**

"Damn!" Erika Itsumi cursed, failing to conceal her irritation under her breath. The main Kuromorimine force had been plagued multiple times as the engines on their larger tanks seized up in the subzero temperatures. They had stopped again in what appeared to be a relatively safe area, awaiting the completion of the repairs.

The crew of the Ferdinand _Elefant_ watched as the team's sub-commander and a couple of mechanics worked to turn the engine over. All around them, the tanks of Black Forest Peak sputtered and coughed, with the occasional revving of an engine in order to keep them running.

A spew of cursing came from under the heavy tank destroyer along with the sound of a liquid spraying out as pressure was discharged. The lead mechanic, one of the crew members of a Panzer III, pushed herself out from underneath and stood, covered in oil. She nodded up at the _Elefant'_ s commander. Moments later, the engine roared to life, resulting in a large sigh of relief from everyone.

"Alright. Everyone load up." Erika said impatiently. She headed back to her Tiger II and climbed in, drawing her coat around her tighter. She waved her arm around in a large circle, motioning for the formation to start moving again. "Konomi, tell Maho we're moving again. We'll meet her at Point B1678."

'Mmhmm." The radio operator replied. As the tanks started moving again, Erika shut the hatch to the cold outside and turned on the small space heater the crew had with them. She shook off the snow and picked up her headset, putting it on and looking at the map.

' _Just a little more time. We'll show you our might!'_

* * *

 **Pravda Girls High School Ship** _ **Kiev**_

 **Abashiri School Ship Harbor**

 **1947 hours**

"Yes!"

The bridge crew cheered as Pravda's KV-2 fired another shot into the Black Forest High formation, knocking out a Panzer III and sending it spinning into a snowbank. The television on the bridge wasn't very large, but it was enough for the seven or so girls that normally guided the ship when at sea.

"I can't imagine the amount of strength needed to load one of those shells." Maki Honami, the ship's navigator said, watching in awe as the massive turret of the assault tank turned back to the front, the threat to its flank dealt with.

"Can't be any worse than turning that wheel." Azusa Mutsumi, the helmsman, said. "My arms are _still_ sore after two days of being in port."

The others nodded in agreement at her statement, not at all envious of their colleague's job. As they continued watching the slow match, the evidence of their prolonged stay stacked up: empty food containers, candy bar wrappers, and crushed drink cans. They became so engrossed in the match that they almost missed the flashing red light and accompanying alarm.

"Hmm?" Maki said, noticing the light. She quickly got up from her seat, not wanting to miss the match, despite how slow it seemed to be going. Looking over the radar and weather screen, she noticed something unusual. "Captain? You'll want to see this."

The group of Naval Science students all looked over at Maki, confused by the unusual request. The _Kiev'_ s captain stood and joined Maki in looking at the radar screen, a puzzled expression crossing her face. "What is…?"

"It's a contact, but there isn't anything that big, even school ships." Maki commented, observing the large spread of contact. "Besides, it's over land."

"Could be from the match." the captain stated. "I don't know what can cause it, but the anomaly is directly over the match area. It might be radar signals bouncing off of smoke." Though she sounded unsure of herself, the theory was enough for the group to return to watching the match on the television. Unbeknownst to them, the radar contact grew exponentially before vanishing.


	2. Chapter I: Retaking the Motherland

**Chapter One of Cold Steel! While I know I just uploaded the first chapter, don't expect this to be a common occurrence; I've had this one typed up for a while. Usually I'm staring at a blank screen for half an hour, type something, then delete it all. Typical writer stuff.**

 **Also, this chapter will open up OC entries! All you have to do is read this chapter, choose a faction, and then provide the basic details, i.e, name, physical appearance, personality, along with anything else you want. Anyway, here goes!**

* * *

 **Chapter I: Retaking the Motherland**

" _Not one step back!"-_ Joseph Stalin, Order No. 227

 _ **Leytenant**_ **Dimitri Izmaylov**

 **Soviet 24th Tank Corps**

 **Near Tatsinskaya, Rostov Oblast**

 **3 kilometers outside airfield south gates**

 **24th December 1942**

 **2153 hours**

" _Leytenant_!"

The grizzled Soviet war veteran looked away from the fire in front of him to see a young _Efreitor_ standing before, only his face visible among all his clothes. He was still shivering though, the biting cold only being compounded by the wind. "What is it?" The rest of the T-34's crew looked at the boy as well, glancing him over before returning to their sparse meal.

"Major General Badanov has sent the message for the final preparations for the attack to commence. All crews are to get in their vehicles and start them."

Dimitri grinned as he looked across the fire at his brothers in arms. "So now we can finally beat that Fascist scum out of Stalingrad for good!" As his men cheered, he nodded to the private and said "Carry on. We will spread the word."

The boy nodded his head and smiled gratefully, quickly returning to the command center. Dimitri climbed up onto the engine deck of the T-34 as the rest of his crew extinguished the fire and got into the tank. With a loud whistle, he got the attention of the rest of the tank platoon.

"Load up! The _Katyushas_ are ready! Fortune smiles on us tonight! We will crush the German invaders and show them the might of the Red Army!" The other crews allowed themselves a quick cheer before climbing into their respective vehicles and starting them up. Dimitri climbed through the commander's hatch of the T-34 and shut the cover behind him, locking out the cold as the driver, Yuri Sokolov, started the engine, causing a loud roar to fill the belly of the tank.

"Alexsandr, ready?" Yuri called over the noise. The loader grinned as he slammed a 76mm shell into the breech and shut it. The crew quieted down as they waited for Yuri to relay the final attack order from the command post. The gunner, Bogdan Petrovitch, took out a cigarette, thought about lighting it, then though better, stowing it away for later. The crew of the tank was tense, awaiting the radio message. The engine droned on as it idled, the pitch changing from time to time.

Yuri suddenly leaned forward, pressing his ears to the command radio headphones. He muttered an affirmative, then turned around to look up at the other crewmembers.

"Time."

The others grinned as the tank lurched into motion, the engine roaring as the tracks climbed out of the fresh snowfall. Yuri alerted the rest of the platoon to follow as Dimitri reopened the commander's hatch, letting the engine heat escape and meet the cold Russian air. On the T-34's engine deck, a squad of mechanized infantry held on as Yuri powered through the snowdrifts. Behind him, four more T-34s, all the newest 1942 edition, followed in their tracks with their own squads, commanders also looking around at their surroundings as he started singing one of his favorite songs.

 _Bronya krepka i tanki nashi yarkiye  
I nashi lyudi polny dukha  
Oni ostayutsya v ocheredi, sovetskiye tankisty galantnyye  
Synov'ya ikh velichestvennoy Rodiny_

Bogdan and Alexsandr both picked up the song as they carried on, followed shortly by Yuri as he put the song on the radio for all other tanks in range to hear.

 _Vo vspyshkakh ognya, sverkayushchikh kholodnoy stali  
Tanki nachnut beshenuyu ataku  
Kogda napravlen na bor'bu s dorogoy tovarishch Stalin  
I Voroshilov'll prinyat', chtoby boyu_

 _Rabota zavodov i kolkhozov krest'yan v_  
 _My obespechim, chtoby nashi CLIME_  
 _Priderzhivayas' silu nashikh zastrelen bashen_  
 _Po Elan i frenzyness ognya_

 _Vo vspyshkakh ognya, sverkayushchikh kholodnoy stali_  
 _Tanki nachnut beshenuyu ataku_  
 _Kogda napravlen na bor'bu s dorogoy tovarishch Stalin_  
 _I Voroshilov'll prinyat', chtoby boyu_

As the March of the Soviet Tankmen spread across the battlefield, a barrage of Katyusha rockets descended on the German airfield ahead, striking fear into the unsuspecting defenders as the 24th Tank Corps moved ahead with courage, daring, and a mission to defend their country.

* * *

 **Oberluetnant Hans Neumann**

 **6th Panzer Division, XLVIII Panzerkorps**

 **Back (South) Gate, Tatsinskaya Airfield, Rostov Oblast**

 **24th December 1942**

 **2207 hours**

Forms of German soldiers rose from numerous slit trenches around the airfield as the rocket barrage ended, snow falling back into place as the Flak 88s, anti-air guns, and machine guns were manned. An older man stood and got out of the narrow trench, picking up his MP40.

"All panzer crews, man your vehicles!" he shouted with authority. "Repel the attackers!" The panzer crews swarmed the vehicles and engines roared to life as the front gate opened up. Three Panzer IVs exited and took up positions in the field just outside, guns aimed.

Hans Neumann, commander of the forces in that area of the airfield, climbed up into the turret of his Tiger tank, holding on as the driver, Sven Martienssen, kicked the tank into motion. The turret turned as the gunner, Ewald Gerbach, sighted in the gun and Johann Stahl loaded the first round in.

"Adolf, get me the control tower." The radio operator nodded, fiddling with the radio and cursing under his breath. "What is it?" demanded the older man.

"Interference." Adolf said shortly, banging on the radio. " _Gott verdamme diese nutzlose Stück Scheiße!"_

"The Russians?" Sven questioned as he maneuvered the tank through the gates.

" _Nien._ " he replied. "There's too much for that. I think it may be something in the atmosphere."

Hans looked down into the tank as the formidable heavy stopped, hull down behind a snowbank. "I don't like that. Can we contact the rest of the platoon?"

Silence. Then Adolf said "Within signal range, yes. There's still some minor interference however."

"Good. Tell them to let the anti-tank guns fire first. When we fire, that will be the signal." Adolf nodded and relayed the message. "And tell them to turn off their engines." At that, Sven also turned off the engine and the entire clearing became quiet as tanks stopped idling and gun crews silenced themselves.

* * *

 _ **Leytenant**_ **Dimitri Izmaylov**

 **Soviet 24th Tank Corps**

 **Near Tatsinskaya, Rostov Oblast**

 **.93 km outside airfield south gates**

 **24th December 1942**

 **2215 hours**

The crew of Dimitri's T-34 still hummed the song they were singing earlier as the tank column approached the airfield. The commander was still halfway out of the command hatch, a DPM machine gun in hand to fight off any ambushes. However, a heavy snow was starting to blow up, along with strong winds. _At least it should keep the Germans from trying to escape by air._

Ducking back into the turret, Dimitri looked towards Yuri as he fiddled with the steering sticks of the tank, keeping her from sliding sideways on the fresh snow. With a low grunt as he moved about the cramped space, he got the driver's attention.

"Give me the radio." The headset was passed over to the lieutenant, who placed it on his head and pressed down on the receiver.

"Platoon leader to Brazov, come in, over." The only answer he received was the sound of static droning in his ear. He tried two more times, both with the same results. Confused, he traded the current headset for the one plugged into the command radio, attempting to contact the field headquarters, rocket trucks, and any other tank platoons to no avail.

"Something is up." Dimitri said out loud, passing both headsets to Yuri. "The radios refuse to work, and the weather is worsening. We can't communicate by normal means."

"I think we still have the signal flags." Alexsandr mentioned. He reached into an empty shell container, pulling out a pair of red command flags. Dimitri took them with a skeptic look, then climbed back out of the tank. He nodded at the infantry on the back, who were hugging the engine deck in an attempt to absorb the engine's heat.

"Turn on the lights!" he yelled back into the tank. "I don't want the others to get lost!" In response, two red lights on the back turned on, blinking in the increasing snowfall. A gust of wind buffeted the Soviet platoon commander as he began signaling the barely visible tank to the rear of his own.

 _Radio communications interrupted. Watch for ambushes. Slow speed and follow no more than 20 meters behind us. Relay to others by signal flag._

He repeated the message once more, receiving a _yes_ in response from the other commander. Suddenly, as a gale-force wind slammed into the tank column, Dimitri, along with the rest of the men in the platoon, blacked out as the storm above climaxed and erupted in a surge of activity and lightning.

* * *

 **Well, I know there isn't much suspense about next chapter, but it's worth a shot. Anyway, Chapter I for you!**

 **Song: _March of the Soviet Tankmen_ , 1939, Pokrass brothers**


	3. Chapter II: Tanks Through Time

**Hey folks! Here's the second chapter of Cold Steel! I'm glad to see so many reviews, follows, and even some favorites in just the first few chapters, as well as the large amount of viewers. Very inspiring. And credit to kartracer24 for this chapter's title.**

 **Now, to answer a comment from NyanHellcat18: You got me to check, yes. I did find that the proper name of the tank destroyer is the _Elefant,_ but Ferdinand is another name, for the designer of the chassis (originally meant for the Tiger (P)) Ferdinand Porsche.**

 **Now, to finish the intro, if the whole dialogue and storyline seems a bit shaky here, I had a bit of trouble expressing myself, as well as having a bit of a time constraint. I wanted to get this out for Veteran's Day.**

* * *

 **Chapter II:Tanks Through Time**

 _"The world has never seen greater devotion, determination, and self-sacrifice than have been displayed by the Russian people…"-_ Franklin D. Roosevelt, 28 July 1943 Fireside Chat

 _ **Leytenant**_ **Dimitri Izmaylov**

 **Date: Unknown**

 **Location: Unknown**

 **2220 hours**

Dimitri Izmaylov woke up to find himself pressed against the metal turret of the T-34/1942. With some difficulty, he pushed himself back up through the turret hatch into the cold air outside. Noises from behind him made him realize the infantry squad on the back of the tank were also just coming around. Behind their tank, the other three T-34s sat desolately, silent in the snow.

" _Komandir._ "

Dimitri looked down into the tank to see Alexsandr and Bogdan moving around, the latter in the process of reviving Yuri at the tank controls. He sat up, using Bogdan as support as he put on the radio headphones again.

"What was that?" Alexsandr stated as he checked the cannon breech of the tank and the ammunition storage. All seemed to be normal, except for the strange anomaly that had knocked them all out. Yuri switched on the radio systems again, and began speaking into the headset as Dimitri looked outside for any trouble.

 _We're still on time, it appears._ Dimitri thought as a gust of wind buffeted him. The infantry on the back were speaking in low mutters. The T-34s behind them drove up and formed a line. The snow was finally letting up, allowing the crews to see their surroundings; as before, they were still in a ravine, likely on the back road to the enemy airfield. Alexi Sokolov, the commander of the rearmost T-34, looked to be building a fire on the engine deck of his tank as his attached infantry squad did the same on the ground.

Ducking back inside, Dimitri waited as Yuri finished his current transmission. As soon as he was done, the veteran crew of the Soviet medium got to business. "Yuri, start the tank." Dimitri ordered, motioning with his hands. "Bogdan, take Alexsandr and build a fire on the engine deck. Have the infantry start the rest of them." The two nodded as Yuri turned the engine over, filling the interior of the steel beast with the familiar rumble. The loader and gunner both climbed out of the tank as the commander checked outside, seeing the other crews start fires as the four other tanks turned on.

"Yuri, the radio." Both headsets were given to Dimitri as he stepped down into the lower reaches of the tank. Putting on the command radio first, Dimitri opened up the radio waves and attempted contacting the field headquarters.

Static.

Not one to be so easily dissuaded, Dimitri tried the main force scheduled to hit the main gate of the airfield, and the scouting force meant to make their own gate to the east. "This is Raven here, looking for Bluejay commander, over."

After a few moments of static, the radio waves cleared as the commander of the main force answered. "Bluejay commander to Raven, what is it, over?"

"Have you encountered any problems, Bluejay? Especially those involving a loss of consciousness, over?"

The extra silence was all Dimitri needed to confirm his question. "Yes. So has Eagle and Archer group." There was a pause on the other end, allowing Dimitri to relay the information to Yuri.

"The _Katyushas_ , lead, and scouting forces seem to have experienced the same problems." Dimitri mentioned. Yuri looked about to respond, but Dimitri held up a finger to silence him as Bluejay returned to the radio.

"It seems that we have only temporarily lost contact with command. Eagle is sending five cavalry tanks and two of their T-34/57s to find them. The attack is to recommence in ten minutes. Ready your men, over."

"Understood. Good luck. Raven out." Dimitri gave the command radio back to his driver as he got on the platoon radio. "All units, prepare to resume. If your vehicles are running properly, extinguish the fires. Infantry crews ready up. In ten minutes, we will commit to our attack." Affirmative answers crowded the radio as the small battle group of T-34s readied to attack the airfield.

* * *

 **Oberleutnant Hans Neumann**

 **6th Panzer Division, XLVIII Panzerkorps**

 **Date: Unknown**

 **Location: Unknown**

 **2226 hours**

"What did you just say?!"

The message from the airfield was repeated, leaving the commander of the surrounding tank company confused. His crew looked at him as he returned the headphones to Adolf, asking the question silently. "Appa-" Hans stopped, still utterly bewildered. "Adolf, give me the short-range radio. I don't want to have to do this twice." The young radio operator complied, handing the radio to his senior. Opening up the system, the _oberleutnant_ got the attention of the 50-tank-strong company.

"Apparently, men, we are in a completely different location." Pausing, Hans corrected himself. "Well, not even that. But it seems a large portion of the force stationed here at the airfield has, quite literally, disappeared, save for the armored forces. As it is, only a portion of our armor is accounted for. The personnel have also disappeared, with only about one thousand remaining."

The responses that came through the radio reflected exactly what the old German tanker thought of the situation: crazy and impossible. As the company deliberated on the news, Hans climbed out of the Tiger and looked around his new surroundings. The airfield looked like it had aged a decade or more, the buildings around the back gate decrepit, save for the more soundly built. The gate was still standing though, and he motioned for it to be opened as he jumped down from the heavy tank. The company resumed mobilization, setting up defilades and towing anti-tank artillery into hidden positions. Overhead, a lone Bf. 109 buzzed as it took off, banking around to the south to scout.

* * *

 **29 December 2024**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **Abandoned Village**

 **Practice Battle between Kuromorimine and Pravda**

 **2247 hours**

Koyomi Mitsuka looked through her binoculars at the snowscape in front of them, searching for any enemy vehicles waiting in ambush. Seeing none, the three-year veteran of the Pravda Tankery Team turned around and waved her arm, motioning for the main force to move up. The driver of her T-34/85 moved the tank over the ridge and out of the way as Pravda's muscle, the KV-2, slowly approached and crested the hill. With it was the bulk of the deployed Pravda team: four T-34/1943s, five more T34/85s, and two SU-85s. Somewhere in the forests on the battlefield, the team's IS-2 was lying in wait, and two BT-7s kept darting around, looking for the enemy.

In the turret of the massive assault tank that was the KV-2, Katyusha growled and muttered under her breath, growing more impatient each passing moment. They hadn't seen a Black Forest tank in almost an hour by now, and the diminutive commander would give nearly anything to see some action, even against the super-heavy Kuromorimine always tried to deploy.

"Where are they?!" she yelled out loud, banging her fist against the side of the turret before withdrawing it, feeling a sting of pain. "Scout team, go look around for the enemy! Check up north near the abandoned airfield!" The two light tank commanders responded positively, and presumably headed off to the old WWII airfield.

"Perhaps we should go south." someone mentioned through the radio. "They may have gone into the base as well."

"I know that!" Katyusha responded forcefully, silencing the one who'd dared to speak. Realizing the assumption was likely correct, she ordered for the battle group to head southeast to scout and, if necessary, assault the old military camp. Wanting to check on her co-commander, Katyusha pressed down on the button for her radio set. "Whiteout, this is Snow Hare. How are you?"

The commander of the IS-2 sounded off as she picked up the radio. "This is Whiteout. We are dug in and camouflaged at our last reported position. No sign of the enemy yet."

"Maintain your position. If we find them, we'll send the flag tank running right at you. The rest of you, let's go!" The Pravda force moved out from their emplacements in the abandoned village. As they did, however, a deep roar filled the air around them, barely audible over the sound of the tanks starting up. But, it _was_ audible, and it grew louder, causing many of the tank commanders to look around in confusion. Suddenly, an old aircraft roared overhead, banking around to look at the formation before flying away.

"That's cheating!" Katyusha screamed, identifying the aircraft at one of Kuromorimine's due to the _Balkenkreuz_ lookalike on the underside of the wings. "Isn't that cheating?!" The rest of the Pravda Tankery Team sighed as their commander went off on a tangent, raging at the idea that Black Forest had the upper hand.

The pilot of the Bf. 109, a G-6 model, lined up for an approach to land on the mysterious airfield. Even with all the strange occurrences going on, the fact that Soviet armor was still in range was more pressing. The air detachment had to get the surviving _Stukas_ armed and airborne before the enemy attacked.

As the storm overhead blew and raged, a cold gust of wind blew across the battlefield at Abashiri, chilling the landscape even more so, as if signifying the events yet to come.

* * *

 **Again, relatively short chapter. This SHOULD be the last one before they start increasing in size. Also, to give future warning, this fic might have to be increased in rating due to the descriptive combat coming up.**

 **Anyhow, OC entries are still open, if you're interested! Just PM me with your details and I'll incorporate your character into the story.**

 **To finish, have a good Veteran's Day/late Remembrance Sunday, or whatever you may celebrate. Please take a moment to remember all of your respective country's veterans, and those who died fighting for your sovereignty.**


	4. Chapter III: Contact!

**Here's Chapter III of Cold Steel guys! And I swear, every time I get a review/like/favorite email, my day is instantly made, even in the middle of my math class.**

 **That said, time for me to answer two reviews!**

 **CaptainAshe179: Thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, and hope you continue to as time goes on. Also, while not present in this chapter, your OC will be making her appearance soon.**

 **Thorthemighty321: Hmmm, we'll see about that...(no spoilers!)**

 **Here we go!**

* * *

 **Chapter III: Contact!**

" _War is what happens when language fails."-_ Margaret Atwood

 **29 December 2024**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **Abandoned WWII Airfield**

 **2339 hours**

"No, you have to listen to me!"

The officer at the desk looked up at Gerhard, who still had his full flight gear on. The Luftwaffe fighter pilot had come straight from the hastily-appointed fighter airstrip that he'd landed on not ten minutes ago. In fact, his Bf. 109 was still sitting, engine turning, on the runway.

"No, lieutenant. I do not _have_ to listen to you. And I really don't believe you, so I won't." the officer replied. Gerhard slammed his fist on the table in anger and nearly told the officer off, but the fact that there were two Gestapo officials in the room as well made him think better of it. Instead, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, headed to the hangars where the _Stuka_ group had taken up residence. He estimated the Soviets were only ten or so minutes away, probably barrelling straight for the front gate as he ran.

Two minutes later, winded and out of breath, Gerhard arrived in the _Stuka_ hangar, where eight of the attack aircraft, namely the G-2 model with a couple of R-2s, were arranged in their little parking spots. The crews were huddled around fires throughout the area, smoke curling up and escaping through the vents in the roof. Hans climbed up on the wing of one of the Bf. 109s, shouting to get the attention of the other pilots.

"The Soviets are just outside our gates!" he yelled, making the room go silent. "I saw them, nearly 20 tanks, headed for us. There's probably more, but we have to stop them!"

A few crews immediately started moving, while the others looked at him in a mixture of apprehension and suspicion. One of the older pilots, from the invasion of Poland, if Gerhard remembered correctly, walked up, looking at him. "Have we been cleared?"

With a sigh, Gerhard told the truth. "No, but the officer in charge right now decided that the defense of the airfield right now wasn't impor-"

Holding up a hand, the Luftwaffe veteran interrupted him. "So, you're telling me you want me to go against the current officer in charge, and doing so violate his orders?" Almost imperceptibly, Gerhard nodded his head.

To his surprise, the officer grinned widely. "Let's go then." In a commanding voice, he yelled at the ground crews to check on bombs and ammunition stores as the flying crews climbed into their planes. Gerhard ran back outside as the first _Stuka_ engines spun up, leaping into the cockpit of his fighter and slamming the cover shut. He taxied to the end of the runway and turned around as the attack planes followed him out of the hangar, troops watching in wonderment as a battlegroup of Panzer IVs rolled by.

* * *

 _ **Glavnyi**_ **(Major) Fyodor Yakov**

 **Soviet 24th Tank Corps**

 **Main Attack Force**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture**

 **1.9 kilometers outside Airfield Front Gates**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0008 hours**

Fyodor looked around him at the large force of tanks about to hit the front gates of the airfield. If all was going as planned, the rear force should have already made contact with the back gate of the airfield, and the rocket trucks should have been about ready to fire the second barrage. Besides his own, there were four T-34/1942s, 25 T-34/1941s, and 10 T-34/57s, all moving swiftly across the snow. The scouting force, made up of 15 BT-7s, 10 T-34/57s, and another 10 T-34/1941s were to assault from the eastern side once the rear forces and main forces distracted most of the Fascist armor. Behind them, five T-34/1941s were acting as a rear guard, two in one group and three in the other.

Ducking into the interior of the tank, Fyodor looked through the viewports one last time before climbing lower into the tank. "Sergei, how much longer?" he asked his driver.

"Five minutes at the most." he answered, smoking a cigarette. He spat it out and crushed it under his boot, looking through the viewports. "We'll likely start taking-"

A loud whine interrupted him as voices outside started panicking, probably from the infantry on the back of the tank. Looking outside, he saw a wing of aircraft flying towards them, what looked like a wing of Ju-87s. The sight prompted the Soviet veteran into immediate action to save his men.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Fyodor yelled, his voice soaring over the battlefield. "Fire at will!" Unslinging his DPM machine gun, he opened up on the incoming German aircraft, blazing away until the magazine clicked. Unfazed, he slammed a new drum onto the weapon and resumed firing as the tank guns and coaxial machine guns started firing. In response, the sound of German 37mm cannons was heard, with two tanks spinning to the side, one tracked and the other knocked out.

One of the Stukas went down, digging a large ditch into the snow before exploding. Then, Fyodor heard the tell-tale sound of falling bombs, the last thing any tanker wanted to hear.

"Brace!" he shouted as he ducked back into the tank, shutting the hatch just in time. Two large explosions, likely 500 kilogram bombs, shook the tank and rattled Fyodor's bones. The whining of the _Stuka_ 's sirens faded away as they left the area, leaving only the sound of panicked voices, tank engines, and the crackle of fires behind them.

Fyodor braced as Sergei brought the T-34 to a halt, steadying himself against the sudden stop. Unbuttoning the hatch, the commander of the entire raid looked around him at the damage the Germans had caused. One T-34 was blown onto its side, the crew scrambling to get out as the engine blazed. The infantry that had been on the back of that particular tank were strewn about the area the tank had traversed, all but one unmoving as a medic attempted to revive the survivor.

In a flash of light and flame, the burning T-34's ammo racks and fuel tanks ignited, blowing the turret off the tank and sending metal scraps everywhere. To Fyodor, it looked like only two of the crew managed to escape, likely the commander and driver. The two watched their tank burn for a few seconds before another tank drove up beside them. The two climbed up on top of the engine deck, checking their submachine guns. It was apparent they wanted to avenge their fallen crew as they shouted encouragement to all within earshot.

Moving on, Fyodor counted two other knocked out tanks and one with a damaged track, of which the crew was fixing already. The crews of the knocked out tanks also found a place among the mechanized infantry, and with a piercing whistle, Fyodor restarted the charge towards the enemy airfield, with the remaining 36 T-34s right behind him.

* * *

 **Erika Itsumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **Main Force**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **Forested Area, 8 km SSW of Abandoned Airfield**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0011 hours**

The main force of Kuromorimine Girls High School pressed on through the large forest in the middle of the battlefield at Abashiri, making much quicker time as the snow was almost nonexistent on the forest floor. The two Tiger IIs were at the head of the pack, followed by the six Panthers, then two Jagdpanthers, and finally the _Elefant,_ all arranged in an armoured spearhead. They were to head to the ridge to the northwest, dig in at the abandoned town, and wait for the Pravda forces to arrive. Maho would be supporting them with sniper fire from the ridge, and, with the Jagdtigers covering the southern approaches, the entirety of Pravda should be demolished within minutes.

As the group traveled through the woods, a muffled series of explosions sounded through the trees, startling Erika and any others who heard the noise. Curious, and worrying Maho's Tiger had been knocked out, ending the match, Erika pressed the button on her headset and contacted the other teams.

"Commander, are you okay?" The radio was quiet for a few seconds until Maho's voice broke through the radio waves.

" _Hai._ " came the short reply. The commander of Kuromorimine's flag tank sounded uneasy, leading Erika to believe that she had also heard the explosions. "Jagdtigers?"

The two Jagdtiger commanders responded together, affirming their status. Further investigation revealed that no Pravda tanks had been spotted yet, much less any combat occurring. This left the entirety of Kuromorimine's force confused as Erika's force continue through the trees, steadily heading northeast. As the two commanders contemplated the mysterious explosions, a sudden, loud, hoarse screaming rose from the same direction the explosions had come from.

As the screaming continued, Maho's voice again broke through the radio. "It sounds like the commotion is coming from the airfield. Panzer III's, go and scout it out, but take caution." Erika rose her eyebrows at the sudden forceful tone in the older Nishizumi sister's voice. "The JSDF may just be conducting drills."

The crews of the two Panzer III Ls could be heard confirming their orders through the radio net. Erika almost smiled, but then the screaming stopped, followed shortly by a series of explosions, that, had they been present, Erika was sure would have shaken her to the core. She blinked in apprehension for the Panzer III cres as her Tiger II led the way through the frozen forest.

* * *

 _ **Podpolkovnik**_ **(Lt. Col.) Vadim Bystry**

 **Soviet 24th Tank Corps**

 **413th Guards Mortar (MLRS) Regiment**

 **3 kilometers E of Enemy Airfield**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0028 hours**

Vadim smiled as the first set of M-13* rockets hit the airfield, booming as they tore apart the Fascist defenses. With the 20 BM-13 _Katyushas_ behind him, it meant that some 240 rockets had just hit the airfield, with the second round of 240 ready to follow up. That was the only bad thing about the awesome firepower of the BM-13 rocket trucks; only half of each truck's load could be fired at a time.

Vadim looked behind him at the crews of the trucks, all of whom nodded or gave a thumbs-up. His grin widening, Vadim waved his arm in a circle, setting off another chorus of hoarse screaming as the remaining set of rockets fired in unison. The smoke trails arced high into the air, right on track to hit the runway. As soon as the last rocket cleared the area and the smoke wafted away, Vadim repeated the process from nearly an hour ago.

"Reload, reload, reload! If we get this done quickly, we can fire one last volley before our brothers take over the airfield!" The crews of the trucks shouted their answers in earnest and hopped out of the cabs of their trucks and began reloading the trucks.

* * *

 **Aki Kobayashi**

 **Kuromorimine Scouting Force**

 **Panzer III L**

 **1.05 kilometers outside Abandoned Airfield**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0047 hours**

Aki held on as the driver of the Panzer III slid the tank between the trees, carefully maneuvering to ensure they didn't hit any of the massive pine trees. Suddenly, the chassis straightened and leveled out, and the tracks stabilized as they hit the road. The young commander of the medium tank loosened her hold on the bar she'd been hanging onto and rolled her fist, getting the feeling back into her hand.

"Nice driving, Azusa." The normally quiet girl nodded in appreciation and continued her task, looking through her viewport as she drove. The other three inside the tank had found some menial task to do as they waited for Azusa to get them to their destination.

"Aki-san, what do you think is going on?" the newest member of their crew, Hana Shoji, asked. The first-year student rearranged her glasses and looked up from the gunsight. The other members of the Panzer III's crew also looked, save for Azusa.

Aki smiled faintly at the young girl's question, unsure of how to answer. "I'm sure the commander is right." she said, sounding confident. "The JSDF is probably doing an unscheduled exercise. They like to do things like that, especially on Hokkaido." The others looked satisfied with the answer, and turned back to their-

"Contact!" Azusa yelled. The four other occupants grabbed the nearest bolted or welded object as the Panzer III swerved hard to the right. A muffled explosion emphasized to them the fact that they were under fire.

"Retreat!" Aki yelled, a little unnecessarily.

"I know!" Azusa replied, turning the panzer around in a single fluid motion. Aki grabbed the radio from the operator and immediately opened up communications to the entire Kuromorimine battle group.

"Scouting team to flag tank, come in over!"

There was a moment of silence as the entire crew listened as well as they could to Aki's side of the conversation, the sound of explosions shaking them from their thoughts every few seconds. "This is the Maho, what-"

"We've got an unknown enemy force headed towards you!" Aki yelled into the radio, not even waiting for Maho to finish her response. "They're right on our heels!" The very brief, simple distress call brought the entirety of Kuromorimine to bear, all of whom were itching for action. The radio remained clear, however, as was normal procedure for the Nishizumi school.

"Take them towards the ridge." Erika's voice suggested, her voice crackly over the radio waves. "The flag tank and the Panthers can take out whatever it is following you."

"Understood!" Aki said, handing the radio back to the operator. Looking at Azusa, she gave them the plan. "Head for the ridge the commander is on. She'll take out our pursuers from there."

" _Hai!_ " Azusa said shortly. The tank increased slightly in speed, as if it knew the urgency of the situation. As Aki went to take a look outside the tank, a very audible ' _Clang!_ ' echoed throughout the interior of the tank, signifying a very lucky bounced shot off of the rear of the turret. Catching her breath, she decided against going out of the tank and instead guided Azusa through the woods by the map, the entire crew unaware of just how close to tragedy they'd come.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Flag Force**

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **Ridgeline Overlook**

 **Approx. 10.5 kilometers W of Abandoned Airfield**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0117 hours**

Maho Nishizumi scanned the battlefield through her binoculars, still not seeing any sign of the Panzer III sent to check the airfield. She shivered slightly as the wind blew on the exposed ridgeline, drawing her winter coat a little tighter around her.

Despite the cold she had to endure up here, this position was one of the best whenever Black Forest went up against Pravda on the latter's home turf. From here, she and the four Panther commanders with her would have had a clear view for kilometers, on a clear day. Even with the storm, however, the group could see to the edge of the forest in the center, where the school's main force was to emerge from.

"Commander!"

Maho looked down into the turret of the Tiger H1 into the eyes of the radio operator. "What is it?"

"Kobayashi-san says they're almost in range. Less than thirty seconds." The news brought the Kuromorimine commander to full alert as she swiftly took command of the battle group with her.

"All units, prepare to engage! Enemy pursuit force is coming in hot from the northeast!" The turrets on all of the tanks turned in response towards the small trail, where Aki's Panzer III was barreling towards them, two T-34s of some variant behind them, constantly firing in attempts to hit the remaining Kuromorimine scout tank.

"Riko, range!"

"One-thousand, five hundred metres and closing!" the gunner said, making minute adjustments to compensate for wind and the constantly changing position of the Pravda tanks. Some part of Maho's mind took pause for an instant as she looked over the forms of the T-34s. _When did Pravda get 1941 model mediums?_

Pushing the thought aside, she remembered exactly what her purpose right now was, and committed herself fully to it, as her doctrine told her to.

" _Ute!_ "

The German 88mm cannon boomed as a single shell flew towards the two Pravda tanks, the first round dunking into the snow. The cannon boomed again, the next shot hitting one of the enemy tanks…

...and doing absolutely nothing. Maho had to check again to make sure her eyes weren't tricking her, but the round had gone right into the top plate of armor. It was just sticking in the top of the engine deck, as if it had nothing better to do that day. The one thing the dud DID do was cause the two tanks to turn off from their chase and find refuge behind a dilapidated farm as Aki got her crew out of harm's way, peeling off so as to not give her team's positions away. As Maho watched, the two Soviet-modeled tanks peeked out of cover and fired, causing her to duck into the protected turret of the Tiger.

Two ricochets off the turret front of the tank rattled the crew inside, making them all jump at the close call. Riko fired the cannon again, filling the interior of the tank with the smell of cordite when the loader reopened the breech. Unshaken, Maho ordered the Panthers to open fire on the two tanks in an attempt to scare them off. In response, the two snow-camouflaged tanks pulled out of the town and retreated out of range, delaying the threat to the flag tank for a little longer.

Smiling in shaky relief at her personal close call, Maho pulled out her map and looked over it carefully. Erika's force, provided there had been no problems, would be reaching their operational area soon. The elder Nishizumi decided it would be in her team's best interests to relocate, and as such the small force of four Panthers and one Tiger I moved further down the ridgeline, maintaining the view whilst hiding from any Pravda tanks that might be alerted about their positions.

The night drew on as the two Japanese High Schools continued their battle, still unaware of the raging war that would soon threaten to swallow them unless they learned the truth.

* * *

 **M-13 rocket: Caliber-132 millimeter Range: 8.740 meters (9.560 yards) Warhead: 4,9 kilograms (11 lbs)**

 **There she is! Chapter III, albeit a bit shaky in terms of how it's written. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Review if you'd like, and remember: I'm still open for OCs!**


	5. Chapter IV: Dark Days Ahead

**Sorry that this one took so long, folks. I've been busy with school and work, barely have had time to work on this. Then there was the writer's block.**

 **Anyhow, here is Chapter IV! The action will really amp up soon, so get those reviews in to tell me what you think! Also, I'm thinking about a beta-reader, as I'm having some doubts about my writing; I feel it sounds a little choppy.**

* * *

 **Chapter IV: Dark Days Ahead**

" _War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for it's sharpness, nor the arrow for it's swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." -_ J.R.R. Tolkien

 **Katyusha**

 **Pravda Attack Force**

 **Kliment Voroshilov Series II (KV-2)**

 **Old Military Base**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0657 hours**

"Ehh?"

The message from the BT-7 scouting group was repeated to the Pravda commander, who looked perplexed by the information she was receiving. Noticing her crew looking at her, Katyusha snapped at them. "Eyes on the road! You four…" Katyusha paused, unsure of what to tell them. "...just...Do something!"

The five other crew members of the KV-2 immediately occupied themselves, not wanting to listen to yet another tirade from their commander. Meanwhile, Katyusha listened carefully to the scouting report from the BT-7 commander, who seemed a little unsure of what was going on.

"Okay. I'll talk to them." The diminutive commander of the Pravda Tankery team returned the radio to her radio operator, then started climbing up the turret. "Rie, contact the flag force. I'd like to know why they were chasing an enemy tank away from the airfield ravine." Rie Tanaka, the radio operator, nodded in agreement and followed through with the order.

Satisfied with what was going on, Katyusha opened up the turret of the KV-2 and pulled her ushanka tighter on her head to keep her ears warm. Looking around, she felt a little bit of pride at the size of the force with her. The bulk of Pravda was finishing the turn down the long that led to the open gates of an old Imperial Japanese Army training camp. As the KV-2 drove through the gates, the boom of a cannon startled the Pravda commander and made her look around wildly, tense in anticipation to duck back into the tank.

"Enemy Panzer III to the right." a monotone voice noted over the radio. "We've scared them away for now, but the enemy knows our positions now."

Katyusha growled in her throat as she thought of the entire weight of Maho Nishizumi's panzers coming down on her team from every which way, utterly annihilating the Pravda Tankery Team as they drove between the old buildings of the army camp. "Now we have to relocate again. We just arrived!"

"Maybe not, commander." Rie said, looking up at Katyusha, who was still lodged in the top of the turret. Interested, Katyusha paused yet again to hear her out. "If the enemy knows we are here, they will likely move towards us with the intent of destroying us completely."

"Yes!" Katyusha snapped, annoyed that all she was hearing was that which she already knew. "Why do you think I want to get out of here?!"

"No, commander." Rie pressed, patiently listening to Katyusha's outburst. "If we leave some tanks here and set up the rest in an ambush position-"

"-we can encircle and destroy their main force instead." Katyusha finished. Her eyes lit up in excitement as she visualized the Kuromorimine force coming down to the military base, attacking, and suddenly finding themselves decimated and unable to defend themselves, running away from their failure, and surrendering to Pravda, knowing they couldn't stand up to the power of Katyusha's team. "Good plan, Rie. I owe you fifteen yen when we return to the _Kiev_."

The radio operator declined her head slightly in thanks as she placed the headset back on her head. The order was slowly passed around the main force of Pravda, and slowly the team split up. The KV-2, T-34/1943s, and two of the T-34/85s remained in the compound to draw in the enemy, while the remaining four T-34/85s and the two Su-85s split up evenly and took flanking positions on the road leading into the main gates of the army camp.

"Alright. Now we wait." Katyusha said, watching the sun slowly rise higher, causing the rays of light to glare off the snow and white-camouflaged tanks.

* * *

 _ **Glavnyi**_ **Fyodor Yakov**

 **24th Soviet Tank Corps**

 **Main Attack Force**

 **T-34/1942**

 **Abandoned Airfield**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0751 hours**

"Enemy tank!"

Fyodor looked through the viewport he had opened, sighting a Panzer IV D turning its turret towards Fyodor's column. Even as he was about to shout a command, the tank erupted in a ball of fire as another two T-34s barrelled out of a nearby hangar, joining up with them. Almost immediately, the lead T-34 was knocked out and the crew bailed out, running away from the Tiger I that had turned onto the road ahead.

"Damn it!" Fyodor burst as Sergei reversed the tank back behind a fuel silo. The Tiger appeared to be spearheading a counterattack attempt from the Germans, with Panzer IVs and IIIs starting to flood into the area in support of the German heavy.

"First Platoon! Defensive circle! Fall back to the warehouse!" In response to the command, the six T-34s began to slowly retreat in reverse, keeping their frontal armor towards the attackers. As Fyodor watched, the Tiger turned its turret, fired, and put a round right into the turret of the tank in front of him. The 88mm round passed through the turret, out the back, and ricocheted off the turret cheek of Fyodor's tank.

"Sir!" Sergei yelled over the sound of battle. "Third and Fifth platoons are coming up behind us! They want to know where to go!"

Fyodor opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the gun firing. The shot bounced off the top of the turret of the Tiger, which fired in response. The shot flew past the T-34 and slammed into a building, blowing a small hole into it. "Tell them to consolidate at the warehouse! Tell the rest of the platoon to fall back and bait the enemy into our guns!"

The message was relayed as Fyodor's platoon turned around and began to get away as fast as they could. The enemy Tiger and accompanying panzers followed close behind, firing the occasional shot at the retreating forms of the Soviet tanks. Up ahead, Fyodor saw the other platoons getting into a firing line as the leading force barrelled towards them.

The commander of the Soviet command tank grabbed the radio as the distance closed between the two armored forces. Almost 20 T-34s were in position, ready to ambush the Germans. As soon as the last retreating tank was out of the line of fire, Fyodor yelled into the radio, "Open fire!"

The line of tanks opened fire on the approaching tanks, destroying a number of them in seconds. The Germans, surprised, turned their turrets in confusion, allowing another volley of shots to be fired. Another two panzers were knocked out, but then the Tiger showed itself again, casually pushing the wreck of a destroyed Panzer III out of the way.

"First Platoon, on me!" Fyodor shouted into the radio, taking in every detail of the battlefield that he could see. "Sergei, see that side road?"

The driver looked through his viewport, where a dark alley led away from the combat going on. " _Da, komandir."_

"Go through there. We'll flank the Tiger and destroy him from behind." The crew of the T-34 cheered as Sergei grinned and gunned the accelerator, entering the alley. For the first time since they'd crossed into the enemy base, Fyodor opened the hatch of the tank and drew his machine gun. "Be careful." he warned to Sergei. Looking behind him, the major noted that only three tanks out of the six-tank platoon were still with them, the others lost in the skirmish.

The commander's tank turned the next two corners without issue, finding the rear of the massive German heavy tank facing them. "Destroy them!"

The gunner, Vlad Ivanovich, fired the cannon two times. Both shots went into the back of the Tiger, catching the engine on fire. The crew of the heavy opened up the hatches and started to get out.

"Kill them all!" Fyodor cried as Sergei brought the tank closer to the destroyed tank. The hull and coaxial machine guns roared as they fired, their deadly rounds tearing into the German tankers as they tried to escape. Fyodor nodded in approval as the T-34s reformed into a large group in front of the warehouse again.

"As they showed our wives and children no mercy, we will not show any to them!" Fyodor called into the radio. "Now ride, my comrades! Drive into their ranks and destroy them! Today is the day we will turn the Fascists back, and we will drive them all the way to Berlin!" A fierce roar crackled it's way through the radio from the members of the 24th Tank Corps as the 22 T-34s advanced together, eager to make their commander's words true.

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Luftwaffe**_ **, Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Messerschmitt Bf. 109 G-6**

 **Escort Mission**

 **Recon Flight** _ **Caesar**_ **, Abashiri, Japan**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0803 hours**

Gerhard shook his head in disbelief as he took off from the runway, observing the flashes of light as the ground forces battled it out, tooth and nail; one side doing everything to reach the airstrips, the other fighting to the death to stop it.

" _And the worst part is, we have no clue where we are anymore."_ The pilot joined up with the flight of _Stukas_ overhead as he thought about what had happened late last night. Indeed, the two groups couldn't stop fighting each other, even though something so major had occurred, i.e., the relocation of what amounted to two entire divisions and their logistics. To be honest, however, Gerhard was guilty of it as well. He _had_ been the one to proclaim the fact the Soviets were still in the area.

" _Stuka_ flight leader to escort leader, communications check, over _."_ Gerhard pulled his headset on as he steadied the plane with the other hand.

"This is escort leader. Communications are good, I read you, over." Satisfied, the _Stuka_ commander muttered an affirmative as he got off the radio, leaving nothing in the cockpit for Gerhard to listen to other than the engine and his own thoughts.

Instead of attacking the enemy tanks already inside the gates, the air group commander had decided that it would be better to look for anymore forces in the area. Despite the situation, the _Luftwaffe_ pilot thought it was the best option: the enemy tanks were too close to their own panzers for the bomb-laden _Stukas_ , and those with the anti-tank cannons wouldn't be able to pull out reliably from their dives with all of the buildings around them. Therefore, it was a reconnaissance/attack flight.

Pulling ahead of the attack planes, Gerhard looked behind himself at the airfield, slowly disappearing among the trees and snowfall. Keeping an eye out for enemy fighters, he pulled up and looked around for any reinforcements the Soviets might have as he led the flight along the southern road.

" _Oberleutnant,_ " one of the other pilots in his squadron said over the radio, addressing him. "The airfield is trying to put a message through to you, but your long-range transponder is off." Gerhard looked down to see that he had forgotten to turn on the aforementioned piece of equipment. "Thank you, Fritz."

" _Jawohl, herr."_

Flicking on the transponder, Gerhard heard garbled tones through his radio. Fiddling with the tuning, he finally got it to the point where he could hear much of the radio chatter back at the airfield, usually with overtones of gunfire and yelling. " _Oberleutnant_ Köln to control, over."

The radio went static for a moment before the veteran of the Eastern Front heard a reply. "Control. _Oberleutnant_ , what is your position?"

Raising his eyebrows at the request, Gerhard looked around to get an approximate fix on his location. "Sir, we are about one thousand metres in the air, headed south. Maybe six kilometers from the airfield."

"Could you be more precise, _Oberleutnant_?"

Before Gerhard could answer, someone in the flight group commented on the inquiry from command on the short-range radio. "I don't think they realize it's a lot harder to give that information than they think." A chorus of chuckles came over the radio, Gerhard's included, before he finally answered the officer in the command tower. " _Nien._ We're in the air, sir. That's all the more information we can give you, honestly." He could imagine the looks the men in the control tower were giving each other at his statement, however true it was.

Moments later, Gerhard heard the reply. "Keep heading south. One of the scouting aircraft believed they saw enemy armor staging in the ruins of an old military camp. Report back, and, if necessary, attack. We need to be sure this area is secure."

"Sir, wouldn't it be a good idea to have some people trying to figure out what this area is?" Gerhard said, voicing his thoughts.

"We'll do our job, _Oberleutnant,_ and you'll do yours. Control, out."

Unnerved by the sudden and sharp retort by the officer, Gerhard turned off the long-range transponder again. Switching to the short-wave, Gerhard passed the orders along and the attack group continued steadily south.

* * *

 **Katyusha**

 **Pravda Attack Force**

 **Kliment Voroshilov Series II (KV-2)**

 **Old Military Base**

 **30th December 2024**

 **0814 hours**

The air was silent as the crew of Pravda's KV-2 waited for some sort of a sign from the other tanks of Kuromorimine's arrival. As soon as the enemy showed up and committed themselves, the KV-2 would drive out from behind the building and fire the monstrous 152 millimeter ML-10 howitzer. It was all carefully planned; nothing Kuromorimine could do could defeat them.

Curious as to whether or not her co-commander was in position, Katyusha took the radio from Rie again, who was doing nothing other than trying to finish the drawing she had started. It depicted the countryside of Abashiri, from the forested hills to the tall, snow-capped mountains. In the background was the majestic Mount Nikoro, rising high into the air.

"Nonna, are you there?"

There was less than a second of waiting for the quiet voice of the Pravda co-commander to echo through the radio. "I am here, Katyusha. We are in position, don't worry."

Katyusha nodded, her temper spiking a little at the insinuation that she, Katyusha, would be worried. Remembering who she was talking to, though, replied in a dull tone "Okay. Be ready. Maho's panzers should be here soon." And indeed, as the two got off the radio, Katyusha heard the distant drone of an engine. In response, the crew of the KV-2, along with the others around them, prepared for the endgame battle. This would be the one that established the supreme dominance of Pravda over Kuromorimine.

Katyusha was grinning widely at the mere thought of it all.

The drone grew louder and deeper, signifying the large number of enemy tanks approaching them. However, Katyusha noticed the absence of the squealing of tank treads, which she should have been able to hear by now. The short commander unbuttoned the hatch of the KV-2 and leaned halfway out, looking for the forms of Tigers, Panthers, and Panzers through the trees. However, she saw nothing, not even the slightest movement.

"Commander…"

"I know that already, Akami!" Katyusha snapped, blowing off the driver's statement before she'd even finished. However, the persistent third-year continued her attempts, repeating herself.

"Commander, those aren't tank engines." she said. The short blonde paused before she again rebuked her driver. As a driver of a tank, she would know a tank engine, no matter what make it was or nation it was built in.

"What are they then?"

Akami listened momentarily, analyzing the sound of the engine, which continued growing steadily louder. "It's too deep to be a tank. Likely a V-12 engine." Looking directly at her commander, she finished "It's an airplane. And there's more coming."

Indeed, the sound grew louder and deeper as someone outside shouted an alarm. Shortly after, the whine of a diving aircraft crowded out the sound of the engines, followed by the firing of machine guns and the revving of T-34 engines as the Pravda force moved, trying to throw off the aim of the airplanes.

Cries of panic and shouts for help echoed through the radio as bombs fell and anti-tank cannons fired in rapid succession. A few brave crews drove around, trying to defend themselves against the attackers as their own coaxial machine guns roared. Katyusha looked up as one of the aircraft passed overhead. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she recognized the shape on the tail of the aircraft, matching the distinctive gull-wing design and the fixed spatted undercarriage. The scream of bombs ended with explosions that shook the ground and threw snow and dirt clods into the air. The planes flew away, thankfully having done minimal damage.

Confused and jumbled radio messages shot through the radio, everyone trying to figure out what had just happened. Katyusha realized that none of the commander's voices were in the mess; rather, it was their radio operators and crews. Much the same was occurring in the KV-2 as Rie got the situation under control, shouting to make herself heard.

Once completed, she looked towards Katyusha, who was still pressed against the side of the turret of the KV-2. "Commander?"

"Are you okay?" Nina asked, looking concerned over her senior's condition. Katyusha shook her head slowly.

"Rie, contact Maho or Erika immediately." Seeing the radio operator starting to protest, Katyusha's voice hardened. "Do it!"

Rie dipped her head and began trying to reach any Black Forest tanks in range. Looking to Akami, Katyusha said "Lead the force into the forest. We'll hide there for now. Take the most direct route."

Unsettled by their commander's completely different demeanor, the crew of the KV-2 began to carry out their orders, minds racing as to what could be bothering Katyusha so much, who never showed any sort fear or the like.

As the great KV-2 began to move and lead the column of Soviet tanks out of the military base, Katyusha barely moved from her position, the image of the Nazi swastika burnt into her mind, accompanied by the scream of falling bombs.

Already far away, the flight of _Luftwaffe_ aircraft was lining up to land and make another attack on the 'enemy' tanks. All around the airfield, fierce combat was in full swing as the German _Panzerkorps_ desperately tried to fend off the attacking Soviet 24th Tank Corps. And, further south, a circle of Soviet-modeled tanks moved north, their commanders contemplating the terrible truth they just learned, and what they could possibly do about it.


	6. Chapter V: A Chance Meeting

**Here we are, with Chapter V being released. I was able to do a lot more work than expected, so I hope you enjoy!**

 **P.S.: I have someone who has graciously accepted my request to be a beta-reader. Much thanks to you, Sovietkitty. I encourage everyone to take a look at her stories, as they are very well-done. (Which should mean the quality of my own work will likely improve immensely)**

 **Anyway, read on, comrades, and don't forget to review to tell me what y'all think!**

* * *

 **Chapter V: A Chance Meeting**

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Flag Force**

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **Ridgeline Overlook**

 **Approx. 11 kilometers W of Abandoned Airfield**

 **30 December 2024**

 **0900 hours**

"Transmission incoming, captain."

Maho looked down at Hisayo, who had already returned her attention to the radio, pressing it closer to her ears. She looked surprised for a moment, rousing curiosity in Maho.

"Who is it?" she asked, wondering why her radio operator would be acting this way. In response, Maho received the headset and promptly put it on, listening to static as Hisayo tuned the radio in to produce clear communication.

"Maho here." the Kuromorimine commander stated in her usual dull done, waiting for a response. It wasn't long in coming as she heard her counterpart, Katyusha, speak through the radio.

"Maho, don't go anywhere." was the first thing the Pravda commander said. "You aren't going to-"

"Why are you contacting me on this net?" Maho said sternly. "If I recall, we're in the middle of a match."

"This is important!" Katyusha pressed, sounding desperate. "If you don't listen, then-"

Interrupting yet again, Maho attempted to take the slightly younger girl off the radio and allow her to focus on the match. "It can wait until after the match. Perhaps if you-"

"NO IT CAN'T, GODDAMMIT!" The force of the scream into the radio caused the waves to crackle a little, adding a small amount of static into the conversation. Riko, Hisayo, and the rest of Maho's crew looked at her with wide eyes, wondering what could be so important and so urgent.

"What the hell is it then?" Maho growled, angry now.

"I can't tell you over the radio. We have to meet in person. Both teams in their entirety"

Those three sentences immediately set off alarm bells in the tactical and strategic part of Maho's mind. To her, it sounded just like the thing that Pravda would try to do: bring their enemy together and crush them by weight of numbers and superior mobility of their vehicles. "Absolutely not. I can't-"

"Believe me?" Katyusha finished. "You have to. Otherwise, well…" The Pravda commander trailed off, leading Maho to believe that, whatever it was, it was extremely unpleasant.

After deliberating for some time among Erika, herself, and the crew of the Tiger, Maho finally answered. "Alright. We'll meet you at the village southeast of the ridgeline."

"Thank you." Katyusha said, and in her voice Maho could hear the tones of gratefulness for her cooperation.

"But, if you decide to use this as an excuse to ambush and destroy my team…" Maho growled through the headset. "...let it be known that you risk bringing the full fury of Kuromorimine Girls High School down upon you." With that, Maho turned the tuner on the radio to block out any response and handed the headphones back to Hisayo, who, along with the rest of the Tiger's crew, looked at her with curiosity in their eyes. However, Maho just pressed her forehead against the inside of the turret, wondering what she'd just agreed to.

"Hisayo, contact all units. Tell them to meet at the abandoned town just south of our position. All tanks are to hold fire unless fired upon directly, Once there, we'll dig in and wait for Pravda." Hisayo's eyes went up in surprise, at her commander's order, along with the rest of the crew. When Maho looked up to see them looking at her as such she immediately reprimanded them.

"Just do it." The four crew members dipped their heads in apology and began to carry out their duties. As Hisayo contacted the rest of the team, Yukiko Kitano, the driver, turned the engine over and led the battlegroup out of the area and into the aforementioned location.

* * *

 **Katyusha**

 **Pravda Main Force**

 **Kliment Voroshilov Series II (KV-2)**

 **Main Road**

 **8km from Rendezvous Point with Kuromorimine**

 **0909 hours**

Katyusha groaned as she tried one more time to reach Maho Nishizumi, but the only answer she received was the sound of radio waves echoing in her ear. She was gone.

She grasped ahold of one of the metal bars on the turret top as the KV-2 hit a rough patch of road, jostling her around for the next 20 or so seconds. When they had passed, Katyusha looked behind her to observe the rest of her team.

Immediately behind her was the team's IS-2, followed by the mass of T-34s that made up the bulk of the Pravda team. There were fourteen of them, and bringing up the rear behind them were the two SU-85 tank destroyers. Up front, the two scouts, the BT-7s, kept pace with the fleet of armor behind them. Nonna had moved back into her spot as the commander of her T-34/85, and like the other commanders, was unbuttoned and hanging on as the entirety of Pravda moved at a steady 28 km/h, which was the top speed of the KV-2. In other words, Katyusha's favorite tank was also the one slowing the whole team down.

Disappearing back into the turret, Katyusha continued thinking about how to explain the issue to Maho and Erika. She knew that they would listen, seeing as it concerned the lives of their team members. The only problem was that she feared that at least one person in either Kuromorimine or Pravda would get too jumpy and fire a shot as the two were negotiating.

"Commander?" a voice crackled through the radio. Katyusha immediately identified the voice and pressed the communication button on the headset she wore. "Yes, Nonna?"

"How are you feeling?" Katyusha realized that Nonna had set up a secure connection somehow, yet again. going back outside of the turret so her crew couldn't hear her, Katyusha told her co-commander the truth.

"I'm confused, Nonna. I don't know what to say to Nishizumi-san and her team. I don't know how we can explain what we saw to them. It seems so impossible, but yet we know it's true. We even have pictures from the scouts when they were at the airfield. And you, I and all the other commanders saw that airplane." Katyusha paused, waiting for a response from Nonna. However, the connection remained silent, which meant she was waiting for the rest of what Katyusha had to say.

Even though she knew it was a secure connection, Katyusha continued with great reluctance. "I'm scared Nonna. We're facing a real war here. We've been lucky so far, but…"

"It's okay to be scared in this case, Katyusha." Nonna responded in her quiet voice. "I am too."

"You are?" Katyusha said, surprised. For all the years she'd known her, Katyusha had never thought that Nonna would be one to get even nervous, let alone scared.

"Yes." Nonna replied. The radio crackled a little as she switched it to her other hand and Katyusha waited patiently for her to go on. "I fear that we won't be able to reason with Kuromorimine, that we might not be able to contact outside help, that we'll be engaged by one of the armies, or even that some of us may not make it through this ordeal."

The last part struck Katyusha like a wrecking ball going through a building. "You mean that some of us might…?" She let the question, almost rhetorical, hang in the air. "But how do we defend ourselves against them in the event we're attacked? How do we-"

"We have to fight." Nonna said simply. "We have some supply of actual shells for all of our tanks. We just have to get them here from the ship, along with the rest of the Tankery team. It's the only way we can stand a chance." Katyusha could hear the sorrow in her co-commander's voice, and understood why; though doing such might reinforce and strengthen their numbers, brining in the rest of the Tankery team would threaten more lives.

"Why do we have to fight though?" Katyusha countered. "Why not just run away?"

Nonna made a sound like she was about to laugh, but instead stifled it. "Our home, Katyusha." At first, Katyusha thought Nonna was talking about the _Kiev_ , but realized that instead, she was talking about the town of Abashiri. If the warring groups got into the town, there was no telling what they would do.

"We'll call the JSDF when we can and hope we can hold out until they arrive." Katyusha nodded, muttering an affirmative answer. The two comrades got off the radio and returned to their previous tasks, if any. Katyusha kept a watchful eye out for any hostile vehicles or aircraft, though she didn't want to shoot at any of Kuromorimine's tanks. It was precarious ground they perched upon, and one wrong move or decision could bring destruction upon the Pravda team.

* * *

 _ **Leytenant**_ **Dimitri Izmaylov**

 **24th Tank Corps, Rear Attack Force**

 **T-34/1942**

 **Enemy Airfield**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **0937 hours**

Dimitri yelled incoherently as his platoon broke through a series of defenses and opened with machine gun fire on the wooden guard towers, the 7.62mm rounds shredding the comparatively thin slats of wood. He groaned as he saw a _Panzerfaust_ rocket shoot out from an enemy trench and slam into the side of one of the remaining T-34s.

 _They were more prepared than we had hoped for_. Indeed, the German defenses were extremely well-done. Initially, they'd been pushovers, with handfuls of infantry supported by one or two German tanks, but the deeper in they went, the thicker the defenses became. Dimitri only had five T-34s left, the same number he'd started with what seemed like hours ago. In fact, the fact that the airfield still had a Nazi flag flying over it was wrong; they were supposed to have finished the raid, gathered their intelligence, and destroyed remaining equipment before midnight. However, they were only now about to reach the first set of hangars. They were far behind schedule.

Yuri gunned the engine as Bogdan and Alexsandr worked together to fix the gun while it was quiet. The breach had been damaged by a misfire, which had threatened to blow off the gun barrel altogether. Thankfully, the experienced duo had remembered to bring their rammer, which they used to push the jammed shell out the rest of the way before Yuri rapidly backed up, saving the T-34 from any more damage.

Earlier, Yuri had mentioned, with disgust, that _Glavnyi_ Yakov, the overall commander of the attacking group, was thinking about falling back and regrouping, then rethinking the strategy of the attack. Of course, Dimitri's crew and remaining members of his platoon were in full disagreement. They'd been at Stalingrad and seen the horrors the Fascist devils had inflicted upon the civilians there, and earlier fought in the suburbs of Moscow itself as the German army approached, leaving a path of destruction behind them. Put simply, they wanted revenge.

"Enemy battlegroup!"

In reaction to Bogdan's alert, Dimitri reopened his viewport to see four Panzer IVs of various types go by, not paying any attention to Yuri's platoon. The five T-34s were approaching the hangar area, about to pass through an open area. The fact that the group hadn't been noticed by the German patrol was a little disconcerting, but it was likely they had business elsewhere, against some of Dimitri's compatriots.

 _Or perhaps..._ Dimitri thought, scanning the area in front of the tank as they entered the clearing.

"Yuri, stop!"

The driver slammed on the brakes and the T-34 skidded to a halt, the tracks digging into the snow. The other tank crews heard Dimitri's yell, but one was too slow to react as they slid into the clearing, suddenly exploding in a ball of fire before flipping onto its side.

Dimitri clambered out of the hatch and watched as the remaining crewmember struggled out of the turret hatch of the burning T-34. Flames covered his body as inhuman screams wracked the air, causing the war veteran to wince as the tank commander tried to put out the flames. Finally, the screaming stopped as his body went still, no longer trying to fight off the inevitable. No matter how many times he saw it, Dimitri hated the sight of a man, Fascist or not, burning to death. It was a horrible way to die, as one felt themselves literally cook from the inside out.

"Mines." he finally said, picking up a sign that had been knocked over. The placard showed a _cherep i kosti,_ a deathhead, along with the words ' _Achtung! Minen!'_ He threw the sign to the side as the other members of the platoon got out of their tanks, each armed with a weapon, just in case.

"What do we do?" one of the crewmembers from one of the other platoons they'd 'borrowed' from asked. The rest looked to their commanding officer, who pondered his options for a minute or two, realizing that the more time they were stopped, the better of a chance they had on being found by a patrol.

"Radio." he finally said. A small radio set made it's way into his hands and Dimitri took it, ringing up the commander.

"Raven leader to Bluejay commander, come in over."

Static.

"Again, Raven leader to Bluejay commander, come in, over"

More static. Then, "Bluejay leader here, Raven. What is it, over?"

Dimitri sighed as he looked at the still-burning wreck of the T-34 in the middle of the minefield. "We are almost at the first objective, _Komandir_ , but we've run into a minefield and lost a tank. Could we spare one of the sapper tanks to Point DQ41?"

There was a moment of silence as the major presumably contacted other groups in the attack force. "We could, but it would take too long. Besides, Sixth Platoon is in the objective area, and are proceeding as per orders. Instead, backtrack to where you entered the camp."

Even as Dimitri tried to protest, Major Yakov continued. "You will meet up with the rear guard and reinforce them. They ran into enemy scout tanks earlier and also took fire from a ridge to the west. We presume there is an enemy reinforcement force inbound, so you will have plenty of targets to shoot at." Dimitri groaned, still not completely satisfied with his assignment.

"Yes sir. Good luck."

"And you, _Leytenant_. Remember, the fate of this mission may rest on your shoulders with this assignment." Hearing this put more vigor into Dimitri, and he relayed the message to his battlegroup as they mounted up into their tanks again, albeit reluctantly. They turned and drove off, following their orders and with a bloodlust to destroy the Fascist invaders.

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Luftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Messerschmitt Bf. 109 G-6**

 **Unauthorized Flight**

 **Abashiri, Japan**

 **1012 hours**

Gerhard threw the throttle of his fighter into full Wartime Emergency Power in order to take off as soon as possible. Once he was in the air, there wasn't too much the officers could do to stop him, short of shooting him down. Which was unlikely, as he was one of the few aces in the fighter group.

The engine roared loudly as it struggled to push the 3.1-thousand kilogram aircraft forward. Slowly, bit by bit, the fighter gained more and more speed, until she was lifting off the runway. It was then that the control tower realized his actions.

"Control to Tail Number 305A, what in _Gottes_ name do you think you are doing!? You have not been cleared for takeoff!"

Gerhard let a small grin cross his face at the officer's stern tone. "I am going out for a recon flight, sir. We know the Soviets are out there; we've already engaged. I'm flying to see where they are so the Ju-87s don't waste fuel looking themselves." _Reasonable enough, if you ask me._

There was a pause on the officer's end, presumably as they looked at each other and discussed the matter. "Very well. Come back alive if you can, and report any findings as soon as possible."

" _Jawohl, herr."_ Gerhard replied. He then cut off communications with the control tower as he gained altitude, the altimeter slowly increasing. 500 meters. 1000. 1500. He leveled off at 2000 meters, planning to look for ground units, as he said. What he would do, though…

Gerhard had noticed that, when he had escorted the _Stukas_ on the second attack, that the symbol on the Soviet tanks wasn't, well, _Soviet._ It was not the red star that he and the other members of his squadron were accustomed to. Rather, it was a look-alike of the Communist scythe and hammer, though with what he couldn't quite see. But not only that, they were all crewed by very young women. Girls, even. He knew the Soviets had female crewmembers, but they were few and far between, and none so young as those he saw.

So, he _was_ going to find that group again, but he might accidently, ah, _forget_ to report his findings. If he could, he would make contact with them. Gerhard chuckled a little at the thought of how pissed anyone higher up would be with him if they found out his true intentions.

He banked southwest as he thought back to his past in the _Luftwaffe._ Ever since he had joined as a lowly _soldat_ , Gerhard had had issues with any officers he was under, and the occasional NCO (however, the majority of the senior enlisted loved how much he annoyed the officers). According to most, he was too free-thinking, asked too many questions, and the like. However, he'd risen rapidly through the ranks of the _Luftwaffe_ , becoming a fighter ace over France, when he'd shot down seven French D.520s that attempted to hit his airfield. He and two other pilots defended the airfield against a force four times their size. He'd and the other pilots received the Iron Cross (one posthumously) for their actions, and it was the battle that had put him into the officer ranks, much to the chagrin of his superiors.

Since then, he'd distinguished himself over the Eastern Front, finally receiving command of his own squadron earlier this year. Or, whatever year he'd come from.

 _Yet another question._ No one else seemed to realized that the landscape was totally different apart from the airmen. They knew the area was completely different; for example, the ocean some thirty kilometers away? No. The nearest body of water to Tatsinskaya _that_ big was the Black Sea, some 200 kilometers away. And the city, by the water? Not supposed to be there either. No, the armies were in a strange land, if not on a different planet entirely.

Gerhard turned the radio on again, tuning through the different channels to see if he could pick anything up by chance. It was mostly silent, save for the noise of static as he panned through the channels. Finally, he came upon some garbled speech, but couldn't make any of it out clearly. Just as he was about to investigate further, a voice came through the radio.

" _Oberleutnant_ Köln, are you there?" the officer's voice came through the radio, sounding rather worried. _That's a first._

"Köln here." Gerhard answered. "What is it?"

Thus ended the worried voice of the officer. After hearing that Gerhard was perfectly fine, his tone became annoyed. "Where are you! Where is your report! Why are you not back!"

"I am sorry, sir." Gerhard answered, trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice. No one liked this guy, why should he? Anyways, he continued. "I had my radio off to avoid detection by the enemy."

The officer sighed in annoyance. Gerhard was impressed that he could always come up with a legitimate reason to escape punishment. It also brightened many enlisted mens' days when he used it to take an officer to the brink of annoyance.

"Whatever. We need you back here to escort the _Stuka_ flight."

"I can't sir. I won't make it in time. I'm currently flying west-southwest, about eight kilometers away from the airfield. I would recommend attacking any enemy units you see elsewhere, especially around the airfield. If we're doing as well as you say, then it may be able to scare off the enemy from advancing and even force them to retreat."

"Of course we're doing that well." the officer said proudfully (though Gerhard thought it was more pride in himself than his men). "Very well. Continue as you will, but return soon."

"Yes sir. I will." Gerhard turned the radio back off and continued on his way, grinning from ear to ear as he continued.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Tankery Team (Deployed)**

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **Abandoned Town**

 **Approx. 10km W of Airfield**

 **1023 hours**

Maho watched through her binoculars as the first Pravda tanks showed up on the road to the town. All of the Kuromorimine tanks were well camouflaged and dug in, ready to fight to the end if they must.

The first tank in line was the KV-2, which gave Maho some pause. Katyusha wouldn't put her own tank, much less the one that could defeat all of them from the front, in front of a group. And right behind it was the sleek and deadly IS-2, followed by the many T-34s.

"Commander?"

"Mmmm?" Maho looked down at the inside of the Tiger, where Riko was looking at her expectantly, waiting for the order to fire. Looking back to the Pravda tanks, Maho said "Maintain orders. All units." Hisayo relayed the order as the tanks continued to grow closer. The sound of mechanics buzzed in Maho's ears as the Kuromorimine tanks sighted in each of the tanks coming out of the treeline.

"Maho," Erika warned. "Are you sure…?"

"Yes. I feel that whatever it is, Katyusha was telling the truth. Besides, being Pravda, they would have already moved into battle formation and opened fire." Erika nodded from the turret of her Tiger II. Completely off-topic, Maho thought about how lucky Kuromorimine had been to find one of the rare Henschel-turreted Tiger IIs. _Only 50 of them were ever made._

Finally, the KV-2 stopped right in between Maho's Tiger and Erika's Tiger II. The rest of the Pravda tankery team that was deployed was parked in a defensive ring along with Kuromorimine tanks. _What is going on?_

Katyusha popped out of her tank, and some time later her second-in-command, Nonna, walked up to join them.

"What do you want?" Erika asked. Katyusha and Nonna both looked at one another, as if making the final decision on something.

"Turn on your radios. I don't think you want to have to repeat everything I'm about to tell you." The two Black Forest commanders did as asked of them and they turned their radios on so all of their units could hear their meeting.

"About two and a half hours ago, my team was attacked…"

"None of our units have reported contact with your tanks since last night." Erika reminded, not letting the short commander finish. This was met with a stern look from Maho.

"Peace, Erika. Let us hear her out." Turning back to Katyusha and Nonna, Maho motioned for them to continue.

"As I was saying, part of my team was attacked by German-style aircraft of the Second World War." Immediately, Erika started to protest, but was again silenced by Maho. She did not feel Katyusha was insinuating that they were cheating.

"We thought that, yes, you may have been cheating at first, but then we noticed something. The _Stukas_ we saw had the Nazi swastika painted on their tails, and we also have these…" Katyusha handed over a series of photographs, which showed pieces of the airfield that was abandoned. Or, at least, _supposed_ to be abandoned.

Soviet T-34s and German Panzers and Tigers were locked in combat as infantry around them fired from behind cover. The series of photographs showed anti-tank emplacements, bunkers, and what looked like a very-well organized defense.

"But…" Erika and Maho both said. "This is impossible."

Erika continued while Maho stayed quiet. "You expect us to believe that a group of Russian and German soldiers from World War Two are fighting over the airfield as we speak? That they _time-traveled!?_ " Erika was sounding hysterical, and she began to laugh before remembering everyone could hear her.

"You have to believe us, Maho." The commander of Kuromorimine looked between her counterparts, the older of which nodded solemnly. Just as she was about to respond, a low drone sounded in the air, causing both Katyusha's and Nonna's eyes to widen in surprise and fear.

"They're back! Quick, take cover! And have all your tanks tune to the universal channel."

The four commanders ducked into their tanks and took action as the drone steadily grew into a roar, throwing apprehension into all who could hear it.

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Luftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Messerschmitt Bf. 109 G-6**

 **Unauthorized Flight**

 **Abashiri, Japan**

 **1031 hours**

Gerhard looked down below as he pulled up out of his dive. He was less than 500 meters up now, able to clearly see the top of the trees. He also flipped the aircraft over, and as he passed over the top of his target, was shocked to see the shapes of both German and Soviet tanks sitting side by side. He banked around and went in for another pass, but started taking heavy ground fire. The rounds didn't seem to be doing much damage, until a shell from a tank gun blew through the wing. Gerhard immediately lost control of the aircraft as it careened from side to side.

Being so close to the ground, Gerhard figured he had only two options: bail out immediately, while he still could, or try and land the aircraft on the open ground, of which there was plenty.

He almost went for the second, but suddenly the aircraft began a spin. Immediately, he threw open the cockpit, letting the wind tear at him as he unbuckled. Timing his jump, he leaped out of his trusted airplane as it went down. He opened up his parachute, fighting the urge to look up as he watched the Messerschmitt hit the ground and explode in a ball of flames.

 _Gott verdammt._ Gerhard thought as he watched the metal fly through the air. He knew he would miss that airplane, one of his favorites. But, even more pressing, were the scores of armored beasts rolling towards him over the snow. But, looking down, Gerhard saw that he would have a hard landing, right into a stand of trees. If he survived, conscious, he would have a chance to get away, in the event the group was hostile.

He watched as the treetops and tanks both grew closer.

And closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Finally, he felt his feet hit branches as he entered the canopy. The pine branches scratched and tore at him, causing lines of blood to seep out along the scratches. He felt his parachute catch on the branches above, jerking him to a halt nearly five meters above ground. After struggling so he no longer felt the harness choking him, he settled down.

The sound of tank treads was still some distance off, but still closer than Gerhard would have like. _Out of hearing range would be better._

Taking out his knife, he began to saw at the cords holding him in place. One went, then two, then three. When the fourth snapped, both Gerhard and his backpack fell the five meters to the ground. Gerhard went into a roll to lessen the impact on the lightly snow-dusted ground. The impact jarred him, but he felt nothing sprain, let alone break. Satisfied, he lifted his pack up off the ground and started on his way, the sound of tanks echoing in his ears from behind.


	7. Chapter VI: Capture

**Hey everyone! REALLY sorry it took this long to produce this chapter. It's been sitting in my Drive for the longest time, but I got stopped by semester finals and ended up forgetting about it. Completely my fault.**

 **On the other hand, here's Chapter Six! Special shout-out to CaptainAshe, who's OC finally makes their first appearance! Much thanks to you for helping me out!**

 **To the Guest, who has given my last three reviews (as of this chapter's publishing), I am still open for GERMAN pilots, and tankers from either the German, Soviet, or Japanese (either school) sides. If you have an account, please PM me for more details.**

 **Final thing: Open up a new tab to YouTube before continuing. Later on in the chapter, there will be the ending of a ink to YouTube to provide a little background music. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Now, on with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter VI: Capture**

" _I was mentally prepared to sustain serious injury or death, but before that day I never contemplated the reality of being captured by the enemy._ "-Oliver Omanson

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Luftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Shot Down, Near Abandoned Village**

 **Abashiri, Japan**

 **30 December 2024**

 **1126 hours**

Gerhard cursed as the match in his hand broke, the head falling to the forest floor. He was anxious to get one started in order to warm up, while he still had his pursuers looking for him. However, he doubted that, inside this little cave, they would find him very easily.

Taking the pieces of the broken match and setting them in the mass of twigs, pine needles, branches, and two ripped up _reichsmarks,_ the German pilot tried yet again with another match as a gust of wind blasted by just outside the cave. The smell of sulphur filled the air as he swept it along the rocks once, twice, three times.

Finally, on the fourth attempt, the little piece of wood flared to life. Gerhard immediately put the short-lived light into the fire, touching it up against the pine needles and paper, then gently blew on it. Slowly, steadily, the little flame grew until it was a small, crackling source of heat. He carefully placed some more dry wood on it, careful not to smother the flames. As the flames grew higher, he scooted closer and huddled up against the cold weather. From his pack, he drew out a piece of his 109's wreckage, which he had grabbed after doubling back on his pursuers. He set it up over the flames and let it sit there, allowing it to warm up. From there, he sat and waited, listening closely for the sound of tank treads approaching.

Gerhard thought back to the events that had placed him here, sitting in a cave, far away from his airfield, and listening for any sign of a hostile force. He had decided that the mysterious group, whoever they were, whoever they sided with, was hostile; after all, they'd shot down his plane. Upon landing on the ground, he'd immediately turned tail and ran away from the approaching panzers and T-34s. When he realized they'd easily overtake him, he'd dived into a riverbank, then, from his hidden position, worked his way around the force of tanks. They'd stopped at the frozen river, giving him time to run back to the still-burning wreck of his Messerschmitt, where'd he'd gathered what little he could salvage and ran.

Despite his best efforts though, they found him when he was less than a mile from the treeline, and continued the chase. They had no hope of catching him in time though, and he dove into the trees, using them as a barricade against the tanks, which couldn't maneuver as well in the forest. And eventually, he'd happened along this little cave where he'd taken up residence for now.

A low growling interrupted Gerhard's thoughts, and he looked around warily for any wildlife that may have found him. He heard it again, and discovered the source was coming from him. _Come to think of it, I haven't eaten since late last night._ Without looking in his pack, he knew his options were bread, soup, or the canned _Eiserne Ration_ meat, none of which would taste particularly good when cold. (Personally, Gerhard thought the canned meat wouldn't ever taste particularly good, but it did the trick in terms of nutrition.) Instead of eating then and there, the _Luftwaffe_ pilot decided to wait until he could warm up the food.

Making sure his gloves were on firmly, Gerhard picked the piece of metal up, seeing if he could shape it. The aluminum refused his attempts to shape it, however, which meant that he wasn't even close to the temperature that he needed. He threw another slab of wood onto the flames, feeling a significant increase in heat. Now, he just had to let the flames burn down a bit. Taking his pack, he set it under his head as he leaned back against the cave wall, closing his eyes and falling into a light sleep.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Combined Force** _ **Weiss**_

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **Moving SSW Along Main Road**

 **1156 hours**

Maho looked around her, scanning the amassed force now under her command. Katyusha and herself had traded some vehicles after a long explanation of everything that had happened over the past twelve hours, some of which she still found hard to believe, even with the photo evidence.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she turned around to the group behind her. Katyusha's own squadron followed her, about 600 metres to the rear. The main bulk of the two school's forces were here, the others with Erika and Nonna, searching for the pilot they'd shot down. If they found him, they all figured that they would get some answers.

 _Hopefully we'll meet up with the rest of the group soon._ Along with the decision to forget the match and focus on what else was happening, Maho, Nonna, Katyusha, and Erika had all decided that the rest of their schools' arsenals should be brought to bear, and also ferry in what little supply of combat shells they had for their tanks. The call was cut short, however, as the storm from last night blew up again, making communication difficult between the _Kiev_ and _Graf Zeppelin_ and the commanders. The radio was also affected, but thankfully the storm had passed over them soon, headed north towards Abashiri. Communications between them and the school ships were still down though, leading Maho to believe the cell towers had been damaged somewhere along the way.

"Maho, come in, over."

The sound of Erika's voice in her ears caused Maho to snap out of her thoughts and she fumbled to hit the button on her headset. "Maho here. Go ahead, over."

"We think we've picked up the trail of the pilot, headed south. We're following it to see where it leads."

Maho nodded to nothing in particular as she responded. "Very well. But try not to cause him harm. The more cooperative he is, the better of a chance we have of getting answers."

"You _do_ realize we shot down his plane as he was trying to attack us, right?" Erika retorted, her voice holding some hostility about the matter.

Maho sighed, somewhat annoyed. Erika never took the time to look deeper into the matter. Katyusha was much the same, just not _as_ bad. "I've already given my thoughts on the subject. Let it drop, and do what I said, over."

There was a bit of a grumble on the other end, but finally Erika answered "Understood. Erika, out." Maho took her hand away from her neck and looked around again, searching for signs of the reinforcement and supply teams. None made itself known, however, as the 30 or so tanks pushed onwards.

* * *

 **Nicole Silverstone**

 **Kuromorimine Reinforce/Resupply Group**

 **PzKpfw. IV H**

 **8 km due S of Airfield**

 **1213 hours**

Nicole sighed as she looked at the engine deck of her panzer, weighed down with live munitions. She was curious as to why Maho and Erika had requested that the supply of rounds be brought out, but chose against questioning it at the time due to the tone of their voices. Besides, it wasn't her place to do so.

Looking up from the engine deck, the dirty-blonde 16-year-old observed the formation of the tanks under her command. Including her own, seven more Panzer IV Hs churned through the snow, leaving tracks and marking where they had traveled. Behind them were the two Jagdpanther tank destroyers and four other Tiger Is, as well as the school's six Jagdpanzer IV/70s. The two undeployed Tiger IIs and four Panzer V Panthers followed close at heel, and attached to them, following the group on the beaten snow, was Kuromorimine's wild card: the _Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus_. The massive super-heavy tank dwarfed the Tiger IIs, let alone her own Panzer IV. Lashed to all of their tanks, on whatever purchase they could find, was live ammunition, ranging from 50-millimeter to 128-millimeter, and even the canisters of 7.92-millimeter ammunition. She hadn't been sure about those, but figured it was 'better safe than sorry'.

' _God forbid any of us is hit by a high explosive round.'_ If such an event happened, the results would be...catastrophic, to say the least.

Opening up the communications line, Nicole tried to contact Maho or Erika and get a fix on their location. Her attempts failed, however, and she gave up her attempts after a few more tries. Looking down into her tank, she watched as her crew kept a wary eye out for any enemy vehicles. Aoi Mizusawa, her driver, was wrestling the tank through the fresh snowfall, throwing the steering sticks around as she kept the Panzer IV on course. Even with the wider tracks, it was still a difficult task to drive through the snow. Or mud. Or any other types of terrain that Pravda had to offer, of which was quite a wide range, depending on the season.

Mitsuka Hamanaka was the loader and youngest of the crew. At 14, however, she was still one of the best loaders the Nishizumi school had produced in many years, more than capable of lifting shells almost twice her weight. She was hanging out of her hatch on the side of the turret, obviously enjoying the wind in her face as Kuromorimine's Second _Panzertruppe_ rolled on.

Next to her, Haruna Araki, the gunner, was cleaning her sights with the hem of her uniform. While the rest of the crew thought she was a little too obsessed with her job, Haruna was still a good gunner, and had eyes like a hawk. Little crossed her sights and got away unscathed.

Finally, out of sight and to the rear of the cabin was Sayaka Iwamoto, radio operator and the one that was currently keeping Nicole's _Panzertruppe_ from breaking up. Sayaka was a long-time friend of hers, having also been born in America before coming overseas to Japan. The fact that they'd both been assigned to the same tank had surprised both of them, but they'd had absolutely no complaints. Straining her ears, Nicole could barely hear her friend's voice over the sound of the engine as she constantly coordinated the amassed group of tanks.

Suddenly, the sound of radio static burst into Nicole's ears, causing her to flinch slightly before voices started to speak through the radio. However, Nicole could barely understand any of it.

" _Leytenant, moy voditel' pyatnitsky bol'shoy sily vrazheskikh tankov na yug. Razresheniye zanimat'sya ?_ "

" _Dal'nost?_ "

" _V dvukh kilometrakh . Oni nakhodyatsya na perpendikulyarnoy konechno._ "

Nicole glanced at the other members of the Panzer IV H, who held the same confused expressions as her. Looking around at the commanders near her, she noticed they too, had the same looks on their face. "Sayaka, is that Russian?"

From her corner, the radio operator shouted her reply. "I think so. But it's an older dialect. I can't understand it anyways."

Nicole nodded and continued listening to the radio as the strange language kept coming through the headset. "All panzer, stop and hold position. All able tanks, take up positions around the Maus."

All of the vehicles, save for the Maus and the ones attached to it, moved into a semi-circle defensive line, looking for the enemy.

" _Vse tanki , izmeneniye kursa chetyre ochka na zapad. Nagruzka broneboynyye i podgotovit'sya k boyu._ "

"Commander, enemy spotted!"

Nicole's eyes snapped to where her fellow tank commander was pointing, bringing her binoculars to her eyes. Far in the distance, a group of white T-34s were roaring across the snow, headed away from her group and proceeding southwest.

"All units, hold fire. They don't see us." Nicole stated as she watched the group of Soviet tanks speed off, wondering where their destination was.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Combined Force** _ **Weiss**_

 **PzKpfw. VI H 'Tiger'**

 **726 metres from Old Military Base**

 **1218 hours**

Maho pulled herself up into the turret of the Tiger again, wiping her hands relatively free of motor oil on her skirt. Yukiko restarted the engine, which stuttered for a few seconds before finally roaring back to life. With the heavy once again running, Maho stuck the top half of her body through the commander's hatch and picked up the radio set. "Group _Weiss_ , lead tank repaired. Prepare to move out."

Numerous affirmative replies came through her headset as the force of tanks began to move again. Behind them, Katyusha's group had nearly caught up with them, while up ahead, the remains of the military base stood in the middle of the snowfield.

As the Tiger went over a particularly steep snowbank, Maho heard the familiar sound of a shot bouncing off a plate of armor. To her left, a Panther retreated back into the cover of the snowbank. A dent in the gun mantlet showed where the shell had struck.

Not a second later, two flashes of light appeared from the north. One clanged off the Tiger's hull, while the other one screeched over the elder Nishizumi sister's head.

"Incoming!" she yelled into the radio. "All tank crews, button your hatches and load high explosive!"

"Contact at approximately five hundred metres, captain!" a voice reported through the communications. "Seven T-34s, early models!"

The identification of the vehicles caused Maho to pause for a moment, but thankfully, Katyusha spoke up. "All of our T-34s are accounted for. They are not ours."

With that statement, Maho's mind was cleared of any doubt. "Riko, traverse left!" The turret of the Tiger I whirred as it traversed, stopping on the positions of the attacking T-34s.

" _Ute!_ "

* * *

 _ **Leytenant**_ **Dimitri Izmaylov**

 **Soviet 24th Tank Corps**

 **T-34/1942**

 **204 metres from Abandoned Military Base**

 **1220 hours**

Dimitri watched as the first volley of counter-fire flew in, rather accurately for the first try. He ducked back into his T-34/1942 and continued to observe the skirmish from within, providing range adjustments as needed.

" _Leytenant!"_ a voice hailed him over the radio. "We've spotted some T-34s of an unknown model within the enemy ranks! Do we engage?" Looking through his viewport, Dimitri saw the aforementioned tanks, fitted with a larger turret and longer gun barrel than the average T-34 with its 76.2 millimeter F-34 cannon.

"Engage. The dirty Fascists have marred them nearly beyond recognition. Put them out of their misery."

" _Da komandir!_ " The group of seven T-34s fired a third and fourth volley, the rounds either missing or bouncing off. Dimitri was beginning to respect this particular group of panzer crews; they knew how to keep themselves in a fight.

As he watched, a flash of light spurted from the cannon of the only discernible German tank, a Tiger. His eyes followed the tracer, widening as he realized its destination.

* * *

 _ **Efreitor**_ **Yuri Sokolov**

 **Soviet 24th Tank Corps**

 **T-34/1942**

 **204 metres from Abandoned Military Base**

 **1229 hours**

The frame of the T-34 jolted and threw Yuri back from his seat, making his face meet the floor of the tank rather painfully. He heard Bogdan cursing above him as the shaking stopped. Groaning in pain as he moved his jaw, Yuri righted himself and returned to his seat, putting on the radio headphones again and restarting the engine. "Bogdan, are you good?"

" _Da._ " was the gunner's reply. "The commander and Alexsandr are both knocked out, though." The report startled the Soviet tanker before he turned and saw Bogdan trying to shake the two awake.

"We're lucky." Yuri commented as he prepared to transmit. "They're firing high explosive, not armor-piercing."

"Then we should go before they realize their mistake and switch, no?"

Yuri grunted in the affirmative and opened up the radio. "All tanks, this is the commanding tank. _Leytenant_ Izmaylov is out of action temporarily. Retreat to the forest and take shelter. We will repair any damage there before trying again." The order was passed around as Yuri backed up and retreated from view, going into the forest as Yuri fired the gun one last time. Yuri drove off into trees, leading the platoon away from combat to recuperate.

* * *

 **Erika Itsumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **Search Group** _ **Hunde**_

 **Pzkpfw. VI Ausf. B Tiger II**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **Near Abandoned Village**

 **1301 hours**

Erika stood and walked a few paces away from the entrance of the cave. Her footsteps echoed in the confines of the small cave as she kicked the remains of a small campfire. "Nonna, how often do hikers come up here?"

"Never." the dark-haired sub-commander replied as she picked up an empty can. "The area is off-limits to anyone not on the Sensha-do team." Erika nodded as she looked around one last time.

"Let's go then. The tracks showed he moved north."

"Probably trying to make it back to the airfield." Erika nodded in agreement as the two young women stepped out into the snow and began to climb into their respective tanks. In minutes, the search group was on the move again.

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Luftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Shot Down, Near Abandoned Village**

 **Abashiri, Japan**

 **1323 hours**

Gerhard rubbed his hands together until they were warm, then put them back into his pilot's gloves. The air was getting colder as he walked, sending his mind to start looking for somewhere to sleep for the night. There was no chance for him to get back to the airfield, at least not tonight.

The _Luftwaffe_ pilot shook violently in order to get some of the snow that had accumulated on him off. He grunted in annoyance as he cast an eye out, looking for a suitable place to hunker down for the time being.

Finally, he came upon a copse of thick-growing trees and jogged towards it, feeling rather fortunate. Putting his back to the thickest part, he began to build up a fire with the wood he'd brought along. In no time, he had a fire blazing away merrily as he sat down to warm up and eat.

Taking the bowl of scrap aluminium he'd fashioned from the metal he had wreck of his plane, Gerhard poured in one of the precious cans of soup and set it in the small area in the middle of his campfire to cook. With the two massive pines at his back reflecting heat and the other trees providing a natural windblock, the small area was rapidly warming up.

Gerhard had been lucky so far, having not run into any issues yet. Also, it seemed like he'd lost his pursuers. ' _Next time, when the odds are more favorable.'_ He wasn't about to give up his overall objective just because of some bad luck. Though it _would_ be hard to get a new plane immediately. In any case, he was glad to be eating warm food today, not cold bread and meat.

The German pilot finished his sparse meal and started to lean back, relaxing. The warmth, crackling fire, and feeling of safety started to overtake him, causing him to start falling asleep.

Almost as quickly as he'd closed them, Gerhard's eyes snapped back open and he sat up swiftly, straining his ears. Not able to be sure over the sound of the fire, he stood and moved to the edge of the copse, listening closely.

 _RRRRRrrrrrrRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr…_

 **[/watch?v=-cNGFZQKSxs]**

" _Schiess!_ " Gerhard cursed out loud. The sound of squealing tracks joined the growl of multiple V-12 engines as Gerhard saw the forms of the tanks he'd spotted earlier. A number of them were headed towards him at high speed, apparently aware of his presence.

Continuing to curse like a U-boat crewman, Gerhard kicked out the flames and began stuffing his supplies into his backpack. Throwing in his ground blanket and makeshift bowl, he shouldered his small pack and began running as fast as he possibly could. Behind him, he heard the engines rev up and thought he heard shouting. He didn't dare look over his shoulder though, and kept running as though the devil himself was after his soul.

Up ahead, he saw a ravine, just narrow enough that the tanks might not be able to follow him. However, he suddenly found himself face down in the snow, unsure of how he'd gotten there. Stumbling his way back to his feet, he continued running as the first burst of machine gun fire erupted behind him, taking out a small tree to his right.

" _Mein Gott_ , I am screwed." Gerhard said, beginning to run a zigzag course among the trees. Behind him, another burst of gunfire rattled from multiple coaxial weapons, hitting the ground all around him. He refused to give up however, and continued his push to make it to the ravine. It was further than it looked though, and he would have to rely on the trees to stall the tanks long enough to allow him to reach his destination.

He dodged another burst of fire and jumped over a fallen limb, eyes focused on his objective ahead. ' _Just a little more, please_.' He ducked under a low-hanging branch and continued his escape, not faltering anymore. Doing so could, _would_ mean his capture. And while he believed there was something about the group following him, he wasn't about to stake his life on it.

Suddenly, a loud explosion threw snow into the air to his left, followed by shouting from behind him. Another shot took him off his feet and sent the _Luftwaffe_ pilot into the air, then put him hard on the ground. As he tried to get back up on his feet, Gerhard saw the forms of two familiar types of tanks finally catch up with him, a Panzer III and two BT-7s. The sight of the two tanks working together still bewildered him, but now, up close, he saw that the emblems on the tanks were different from their German and Soviet counterparts.

The three tanks surrounded him as he stood with his hands in the air, watching as the other tanks caught up as well. Finally, a sleek, massive tank with the German-type emblem pulled up and stopped. A silver-haired young woman jumped out of the turret, landing neatly on her feet. The crew members of the other tanks were all observing her as she and another young girl marched across the the snow to meet him. In an attempt to make peace, Gerhard tried to say something to the two as they got within ten metres of him.

" _Ich wünsche um Ihren Kommandanten zu sprechen. Sind sie hier gerade jetzt?_ " The two girls stopped with startled looks on their faces. ' _So far, they appear to be friendly._ ' Gerhard looked closely at the faces of the others surrounding him, and noticed that they, too, were all female. ' _What have I walked into?_ '

The two that were walking towards him closed the last few metres, looking cautious, but at the same time, curious. Gerhard noticed that the silver-haired one had a harder, more suspicious look on her face, however. On the other hand, the one who'd gotten out of the T-34, while looking slightly suspicious, was more at ease than her compatriot. " _Anata wa mattaku nihongo ga hanasemasu ka?_ "

Gerhard focused on the raven-haired girl, nearly completely confused. ' _Japanese? Here? In German and Soviet vehicles?_ ' He knew the language as Japanese from his study in pilot school, but otherwise had no idea as to what was being said. Three years of fighting had made him forget that which he did not figure he would need.

In another bid for peace, Gerhard thought about handing over his pistol, but decided against it, instead choosing to speak again. " _Sprechen Sie Deutsch überhaupt?_ "

This time, the other girl spoke up, though hesitantly. "Yes...at least...a little _._ " Gerhard brightened up, then realized that it would be hard to have conversation with her at all if she did not know what he said earlier.

The silver-haired girl spoke up again. "My name is Erika Itsumi" She paused momentarily, turning to her side and speaking rapidly to her comrade. Gerhard waited patiently. "Ahh, you are now our prisoner, so please...come with us." Gerhard nodded and held out his wrists. Erika looked confused, but the other girl took out a set of...well, Gerhard wasn't sure what they were. She placed a loop of the makeshift handcuffs over his wrists and tightened them each, producing a loud _ziiip!_ She paused as though to do something else, but then shook her head and backed off. The _Luftwaffe_ pilot was led to the massive tank and helped up, and within a minute, the group had gotten underway again.

' _God help me.'_

* * *

 **There you go! How'd you like that music (Not mine, obviously. Just covering my ass.)**

 **Also, something massively important: Thank you, everyone, for reading 'Cold Steel' so far and supporting me. It is a massive morale boost to open up my Gmail or PM inbox and see that someone has favorited or followed the story. Really. Other authors out there understand this, I would think. I doubt that I would have continued had it not been for the positive responses I'd received after the first couple chapters, and am glad to continue for your enjoyment. Thank you so much!**

 **Feel free to tell me what you think in the reviews, and whether or not you want to have more soundtracking in 'Cold Steel'. Also, I've started a section on my profile detailing what is going on with any of my works; I'll try to update it every week, so you can check there for news.**

 **Until the next chapter, this is KTA334, signing off.**


	8. Chapter VII: Learning the Truth

**Chapter VII is here! Thank you all for your reviews as well! And to UniChan12: Quite ironically, this chapter was meant to answer your question the second I started typing it up, so here you go!**

 **To CaptainAshe179: Thank you very much for helping me out on getting your OC's personality on-track, as she will have a major part in upcoming chapters.**

 **To all others, if you'd like to send in your own OC, then PM me for details on what to send in. If I can, you'll usually get a reply the same day.**

* * *

 **Chapter VII: Learning the Truth**

" _The more I see, the less I know for sure."-_ John Lennon

 ** _Oberleutnant_ Gerhard Köln**

 **POW, _Luftwaffe_ , Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Approaching Old Military Base**

 **30th December 2024**

 **1350 hours**

Gerhard tugged at the strange bindings around his wrists, only to feel them tighten even more. A small chuckle from his front made him look up at the silver-haired girl in the turret of the tank. She shook her head as if to ridicule him.

Gerhard muttered some unpleasant remarks under his breath as he lay back against the engine deck, adjusting himself to sit over the vents and absorb the heat from the engine. He began to relax, arms and legs spread to provide support as the tanks hit a rough patch of ground.

"This is a _Königstiger._ " Erika said in passable German. Gerhard looked up at her, glad to have something to break the awkward tension between the two of them. ' _Bengal tiger, eh? What is it with those tank designers naming their creations after cats?_ '

"What year was it made?" Gerhard asked out loud. "I've never seen it before, though I might have missed it."

There was silence for a moment as Erika presumably sorted out what her prisoner had said. Finally, she responded "1943 to 1945." Her words caused the pilot to stop cold in his thoughts and actions.

"What year is it?" Erika looked at him as if he had gone mad, which Gerhard wasn't sure why. It was an honest question.

"2024. The same it's been for the last eleven months."

Gerhard literally choked on his spit, so hard that he flew forward and smacked his head into the turret of the _Königstiger._ "What?!"

Erika looked at him with a strange look and shrugged, turning away and surveying their surroundings. ' _80 years into the future? How does that even happen?_ ' The sheer thought of it was frightening. He thought something supernatural had happened earlier, what with the storm and all, but _time-travel_? How could he be in a time that hadn't even happened yet?

"How is that possible though?!" Gerhard started, speaking rapid-fire German. "I was in late 1942 before all of this happened, and suddenly my entire squadron and the tanks…" He trailed off as he noticed Erika's bewildered face.

' _Right. She isn't that fluent.'_ The pilot shook his head and grunted as the column of German- and Soviet-modeled tanks passed through a gate and stopped in the middle of what looked like a run-down military base.

The other tanks Gerhard had seen after his crash were also there. The utter size of the force astonished him, not to mention the size of some of the tanks themselves. The one that drew his attention was a massive steel box at least three times his height. It looked like they'd strapped tank treads on an artillery bunker.

' _Mien Gott, what is that thing?_ '

The crews to the tanks that had tracked him down and captured him all disembarked from their vehicles and started to mingle with the other personnel. As far as Gerhard could tell, he was both the only male and the only one over 20 within a couple of kilometers.

Erika and the other girl, Nonna, if Gerhard remembered correctly, each walked to another two girls and started speaking with one another in rapid-fire Japanese. One of the group, Gerhard noticed, was no more than five feet tall. However, the look on her face seemed like she wasn't the best sport about it, and he stifled the rising snort while looking away to avoid eye contact. Both she and Nonna appeared to be wearing Soviet tanker uniforms.

The other girl was of normal height, with short brown hair and dark brown eyes. Like Erika, she wore a _Panzerkorps_ uniform. She glanced up at him momentarily, her eyes studying him quickly before returning to the conversation.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Combined Force**

 **Pzkpfw. VI H1 ' _Tiger_ '**

 **Old Military Base**

 **1401 hours**

Maho nodded as Erika and Nonna gave their report on what had happened as they'd tracked down the pilot. She briefly looked up at the pilot, who made eye contact with her for a few moments. She returned to listening again as the two sub-commanders finished their story. "Does he know any Japanese?"

"No." Erika replied. "It seems he recognizes it though."

"Obviously, he is fluent in German." Nonna stated, for the record, Maho guessed. She nodded as Katyusha spoke up.

"Well then, how do we talk to him? It's not like we can communicate with pictures." The four commanders looked at each other. No one they knew could fluently speak German, and there was still no cell reception for them to use their phones as translators.

"Wait." Maho said. "Nicole speaks German, right?"

Erika nearly facepalmed as she remembered the school's third-in-command. "I think so. I'd completely forgotten about her."

Katyusha watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged. "Okay then. Nonna, the reinforcements arrived. Go get your ammunition." The quiet young woman nodded and motioned for the rest of her tanks to follow her own T-34/85.

"Erika," Maho started. "Go with her. Nicole should still be there, so tell her to get over here."

" _Hai._ "

Maho whistled two girls over to help her get the pilot down from the tall King Tiger. As they approached, however, the pilot leaped down, landing neatly on the snow. Maho's eyes widened in surprise at his agility as he stood up, wrists outstretched. On his wrists were two zip ties, preventing the young man from doing too much with his hands.

" _Könnten Sie diese aus Bitte setzen Sie sich?_ "

Maho understood absolutely none of what he just said, but the motions he made got the message across. So, she responded with the only German word she could remember off the top of her head.

" _Nien."_

The pilot paused for a fraction of a second before shrugging and putting his arms down. He watched as Erika's Tiger II and the accompanying Panthers and Panzer III Ls left to go change their ammunition.

"Take him in there." Maho told the two girls that she'd called earlier, pointing towards a small building. "Guard him until I get back."

" _Hai!_ "

"Roger!"

The two second-years took the captured pilot by the arms and directed him through the door of the small, decrepit building. Maho sighed as she turned on her heel, her breath condensing in the bitter-cold air.

" _Why won't this freezing storm end already?_ " she thought to herself. She found a nearby fire and walked over to it, taking advantage of the heat it provided. The girls around it looked up at her as she stopped and put her hands over the flames. There was an awkward silence as the fire popped and crackled.

"Nishizumi-kohai," one of the younger girls asked. "What are we going to do about all of…this? And what's been happening?" She trailed off as everyone in earshot turned and looked at the Kuromorimine commander as they waited for her to answer the question.

"I-"

"Commander!"

Maho sighed in relief as she saw the commander of the Second _Panzertruppe_ jog up, wearing nothing against the cold but her trademark black coat and a pair of heavy boots. Maho presumed it was her German blood that kept her protected against the cold temperatures, as she never complained about cold weather. "Nicole. Thank you for coming."

Nicole shrugged her shoulders, waiting for the information to be passed on to her. Erika had seemed off when she told her to come meet the captain of the entire Panzerfahren team, and Nicole suspected it had something to do with making the run with the live munitions. That, and her school and Pravda weren't actively trying to achieve dominance over one another.

Getting no verbal answer from the girl, Maho continued. "You speak German, right?"

"Yes." she replied. "My mother made sure I knew it in case I ended up going to a German school."

Maho nodded, thankful that she didn't have to look any further. To answer Nicole's slightly questioning face, she explained, in short, why she'd been brought and the events that had transpired over the last 12 hours.

* * *

 **Nicole Silverstone**

 **Kuromorimine Second _Panzertruppe_**

 **Pzkpfw. IV H**

 **Old Military Base**

 **1436 hours**

Nicole pondered over what Maho had told her, finding all of it hard to believe to any extent. However, here she was, and, quite obviously, something serious had caused Pravda and Black Forest to put aside their rivalry long enough to cooperate and cause a significant shift in the mood of the tank crews.

As the German-American followed Maho, Erika, Nonna, and Katyusha into a squat building, she realized that her hands were shaking. Whether it was from the cold or what was supposed to happen next, she wasn't sure. She ducked into the house, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dark.

All of the doubt Nicole had shattered as she saw the young man laying on his back in a pile of straw. He wore a frayed pilot's uniform, but from her study of German history, she recognized it was a genuine uniform. And, from the look of it, he was no newcomer either.

As the rest of the group came through the door, the pilot sat up, albeit with some difficulty. Nicole noted his hands were restrained with zip ties. He looked around at the assembled girls, his eyes lingering on Nicole last. Glancing over at Maho, who nodded, the German pilot turned back to Nicole.

"You speak German?" he asked her. It took her mind a minute to transition to German, but she finally remembered her mother's teachings.

"Yes, I do." Nicole replied, taking a seat. "My name is Nicole Silverstone."

"Gerhard Köln." the pilot replied. He seemed to relax as Nicole passed the information on to the rest of the group. She introduced the pilot to the other commanders as well, and was surprised to see that he respectfully shook each of their hands. She waited until they were done, then continued on once everyone had settled.

"Are you comfortable?" Nicole questioned, feeling it was a safe enough question. Gerhard nodded in acknowledgement and shifted on his stack of hay. The awkward silence made her feel uneasy as she waited for a verbal answer. " _So this is what it's like talking to me._ "

Casting around for a topic, Nicole looked around her as she heard the others comment behind her.

"Could you get me out of these?" the pilot asked, holding up his wrists. "I want to get something out of my pocket." She couldn't see it, but Nicole was sure that the look she gave him would've given some of the younger girls a good scare. However, the pilot looked at her blankly, as if waiting.

She passed on the word to Maho, who sighed and put her face in her left hand. "That's the second time he's asked now."

"Do you think we can trust him?" Katyusha asked, posing the question that would answer the pilot's own query.

The five of them looked around at one another and discussed the problem as Gerhard patiently waited for them to finish debating. He just really wanted out of these blasted restraints; whatever they were, they were cutting into his skin with every move.

"He hasn't tried to get away yet." Nonna stated. "He also seems genuine in his intent to stay." The group glanced over at the pilot, who had laid down and shut his eyes.

"Fair enough." Maho said. "But even if he means well-"

"Means well?!" Katyusha interjected. "He was going to shoot at us! His planes bombed us!" She grew more animated with every short phrase that she spit out.

"I agree that we shouldn't trust him." Erika said. "We don't truly know him." Katyusha nodded feverishly and looked to Nonna for support.

"How was he while you were driving back here?" Nonna asked. "I would think he was well-behaved. At least, to the point where you didn't have to stop."

"True." Erika admitted. "And I suppose he could have jumped off long before we got here." The silver-haired girl looked down at the dirt floor and kicked at the dirt as if pondering her thoughts.

Nicole sighed, about ready to cut the zip ties herself. She'd felt those things on her wrists before, and was none too fond of them. She doubted the pilot was either, judging from the look of discomfort he had. "Look, let's just vote. I say we let him go. I'm sure that the five of us can take him down if he tries to run." The others looked at her, showing various degrees of agreement.

"All in favor?" Maho stated. Nicole, Nonna, and Maho all rose their hands, with Erika following soon after, if a little tentatively. Katyusha's jaw dropped in disbelief as she looked at each of them.

"You can't be serious! He's a Nazi! A murderer! Why would he care about us or want anything from us?" The diminutive Pravda commander turned on her heel and stomped out, slamming the flimsy door behind her and leaving four surprised young women and one bewildered pilot behind her. After a moment, Nonna simply sighed in disbelief, breaking the silence.

"Well then." Maho said in a monotone. "Nicole…"

"Right."She squatted and brought out her pocket knife, quickly slicing through Gerhard's bonds, much to the delight of the pilot.

"Thank you." he said, rubbing his wrists. "What were those things?"

Nicole snorted at the poor pilot's ignorance, even though she knew it wasn't his fault. "Zip ties. Effective, aren't they?"

Gerhard nodded and reached inside his jacket. On guard, Nicole kept her knife blade out while the others tensed, waiting for some kind of attack. Completely oblivious to the matter, Gerhard dug a pack of cigarettes out from his pocket. However, much to his chagrin, he couldn't find his lighter.

" _Scheisse._ " Further attempts to find his lighter were unsuccessful, and he about gave up when he heard a clicking and a light lit the cigarette in his mouth.

Nicole pulled back, releasing the gas flow and flicking her lighter shut as Gerhard took a long draw at his cigarette. "You don't have any more of those, do you?"

Gerhard looked at her, eye raised as he let the accumulated smoke out of his mouth. "A little young, aren't you?"

Nicole sighed as she heard that yet again. "I just use it to calm myself down when I'm stressed." And, to prove her point, she held up her hands, which were shaking slightly. Just the weight of the thoughts that were going through her head right now were making her a bit of a wreck, to say the least. She needed something to calm down.

The _Luftwaffe_ pilot took another draw at his cigarette, clearly thinking as he blew out the smoke again. His eyes looked up to Maho, who appeared to be gritting her teeth. Nicole knew she disapproved of her habit, but hey, it helped keep her nerves in line.

Finally, Gerhard reached back into his pocket, drawing out another smoke and handing it to her. "Don't expect too many others. Young girl like you shouldn't be smoking." She nodded in understanding, taken aback slightly by his sharp tone.

Seeing her nod her head, Gerhard shook his head. "Good. Is there anything you all needed?"

Nicole blinked, remembering why they'd all come here. After she translated the question to Maho, the three remaining commanders started discussing the matter as Nicole drew on the cigarette she'd received. Gerhard rubbed his wrists, which had red marks from where the zip ties had restrained him.

Finally, Maho, Erika, and Nonna seemed to reach an agreement on what they wanted to know, and turned to Nicole, giving her one question at a time to ask.

* * *

 ** _Oberleutnant_ Gerhard Köln**

 **POW, _Luftwaffe_ , Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Old Military Base**

 **1444 hours**

Gerhard watched as the other three leaders of the tank-driving girls debated over some matter as he stretched out, enjoying the cigarette in his mouth. Ones like this had been hard to find on the Eastern Front, and the small shipment of them to the Tatsinskaya Airfield had been quite profound among the few who were able to get to the truck in time. He rubbed his wrists in discomfort, glad those damn 'zip ties'were finally off of him.

As he waited, he looked down at his uniform. He'd been screwing around with his medals at the time of the...time travel, he guessed. He'd been pinning them and his ribbons to his flight suit, wondering if he could somehow get away with wearing it to a formal dinner, seeing as he'd lost his dress uniform. And the whole time, the rest of the squadron was looking on in amusement.

Gerhard was brought back to reality by the sound of a throat being cleared, and looked up at the group. "Yes?"

In response, Nicole asked "Where are you from? And what year were you born?"

Gerhard wasn't quite sure how that was relevant to the situation, and stated his thoughts out loud. Nicole just facepalmed and shook her head. "I don't know why they want to know. Just answer the question."

Gerhard shrugged and said "I was born in Remagen, on the Rhein River. The year was 1919, just after the end of the Great War."

The answer was translated and Gerhard observed the faces of the girls. Perhaps he could learn something about the future of the war from their reactions. As Nicole told them what he'd said, he watched the two 'German' commanders' eyes widen as she mentioned Remagen. Before he could ask why, though, he was asked another couple of questions.

"So you're twenty-three years old?" Gerhard nodded. "Okay. Umm, they want to know how you got here. In this, you know, time period."

Gerhard snorted and let out a chuckle. _Wouldn't we all like to know that?_ "Tell them they'll have to wait until I can find out myself. There's quite a line back at my airfield." She nodded and reported his answer to her seniors, though he suspected that the last part was omitted.

"Why did you attack us?"

' _Oh boy. This'll be a joy to answer._ ' Gerhard thought, watching as Nonna shifted her weight, looking at him closely. He had no doubt it was her that had asked the question. As he thought back to the series of events that had led up to this point. "Would you like the whole story?" The question was passed along, causing each of the girls' eyebrows to raise. A few exchanges occurred between them and his translator, before finally, Nicole turned back to him and nodded.

"Very well. What is it?"

Gerhard sighed and took another draw on his slowly disappearing cigarette. "Then sit down. This'll take a bit, I'm sure." This time, Nicole's own eyebrows raised at his response. She nodded and pulled up one of the rickety wooden chairs, motioning for her colleagues to do the same. Once everyone was settled, Gerhard took his own seat, hearing the wood creak loudly in protest as he leaned forward.

"About two months ago, back in my own time…"

* * *

 **Aaaand, that's a wrap! Chapter VIII should be out anytime from the end of this week to late March, provided work and school cooperate. In it, well, let's just say that all hell will break loose. Also, there MAY be a warning on the chapter header for the main scene, just to be safe.**

 **Until next time, this is KTA334, signing off!**


	9. Chapter VIII: First Blood

****Hey everyone. Sorry about being late on getting this out, but I was having difficulty on getting the last bit written. Hopefully it won't happen again, but no guarantees.****

 ** **Again, a massive thank you to CaptAshe179, who's been helping me behind the scenes. Originally, I meant for him to check this out one last time, but again, I realised that I was late and decided to take a chance. Tell me what you think, and my apologies to all of you.****

* * *

 ** **Chapter VIII: First Blood****

" _Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;_

 _Or close the wall up with our English dead._

 _In peace there's nothing so becomes a man_

 _As modest stillness and humility:_

 _But when the blast of war blows in our ears,_

 _Then imitate the action of the tiger…"_

-William Shakespeare

 ** _ **Glavnyi**_** ** **Fyodor Yakov****

 ** **24th Soviet Tank Corps****

 ** **Main Attack Force****

 ** **T-34/1942****

 ** **Near the Abandoned Airfield****

 ** **30th December 2024****

 ** **1621 hours****

Fyodor and his men shouted in approval as they watched a German bunker explode from within, sending pieces of concrete and metal through the air. In response, the remaining German troops on this defense line retreated, running away from the might of the Red Army and her inexorable tank corps.

"Forward! On to victory! Seize the hangars before we move on to the airstrip!" An even louder cheer echoed through the cold air, displaying the enthusiasm of Fyodor's men as they pushed onwards. Yet another series of _Katyusha_ rockets arced overhead, hitting the area ahead as the remaining thirty-nine tanks in his group revved their engines and advanced.

Ducking back into the tank, Fyodor settled in for the ride. According to his watch, he had only fifteen minutes to take the rest of the airfield, otherwise his orders were to call off the operation and return to base. He had to keep his mens' morale up, and maybe it would help in some way.

Taking the radio from Sergei, he put the headset on and patched it through to _Leytenant_ Izmaylov's force patrolling outside of the gates. "This is _Glavnyi_ Yakov to _Leytenant_ Izmaylov. Report, over."

There was a short pause of static as Fyodor awaited the response from his subordinate. Finally, the static ended and the voice of Dimitri came through to his ears. " _Leytenant_ Izmaylov sir. Sorry about the wait, but we came under fire from an enemy force and I was knocked out."

" _Da, da._ Carry on."

Dimitri could be heard grunting affirmatively before continuing. "We regrouped in the forests and are now retracing our steps. We plan on observing the enemy on foot before attacking, and will provide any information we gather as soon as possible. How goes it there, sir?"

Fyodor sighed. "We may have to call it off and regroup. Our time is running short and our objective is still almost out of reach."

"But sir…" Dimitri replied. "Command has spent months planning this mission. We've trained for weeks on end! We can not possibly stop now!"

"We may have to, _Leytenant._ We have enough supplies to sustain us in a full-frontal tank battle if necessary." Fyodor reminded his subordinate. "As it is, I called for your report, not your opinion. Do as you said, and report in once your reconnaissance is completed."

"Yes sir."

Fyodor sighed as he returned the radio to Sergei. He appreciated the patriotism and desire for revenge his men had concerning the war, but there were times when you had to cut your losses. Unlike the penal battalions, Fyodor's men, much less their tanks, were not expendable. "Nikolai, how're our ammunition levels?"

Nikolai Makarov, the loader of the T-34, ducked into back into the floor of the tank, bringing up the ammunition stored under the metal plates. Coming up with three 76.2mm shells, he said "About twenty-five armor-piercing rounds, seven APCR rounds, and ten high-explosives."

Fyodor nodded in acceptance. The ammo was low, but not critically so. If needed, his men could salvage ammunition from the wrecks of knocked-out friendly tanks. "Sergei, the machine gun?"

The radio operator/driver looked around him at the long belt of 7.62mm bullets linked together. "Anywhere from five hundred to a thousand rounds. Not including the spare canister outside."

"Okay. All good news. Keep moving-"

The Soviet major was cut short by a nearby explosion. Up ahead, the lead T-34 erupted in a ball of flames as it turned a corner. The supporting infantry that had been ahead of the push were evidently heavily as German bullets sang through the air, coming from a series of makeshift trenches and pillboxes

" _Chyort_!" Fyodor muttered. "First Platoon, rally on me! Destroy the Fascists!"

* * *

 ** _ **Oberleutnant**_** ** **Hans Neumann****

 ** **6th Panzer Division, XLVIII**** ** _ **Panzerkorps**_**

 ** **Pzkpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'****

 ** **German-held Airfield****

 ** **1638 hours****

The Tiger's cannon boomed again, destroying another T-34 as it skidded around the corner of the building at high speed.

"Good shooting, Ewald." the 41-year old tank commander complimented. As the gunner nodded in acceptance, the cannon breech slammed shut with a loud ' _thunk!_ '.

"Gun ready." Johann stated, looking through his viewport for he and Adolf had a grip on their machine gun triggers, holding fire while Sven kept the steering sticks ready in case they needed to move suddenly.

"Reinforcement infantry coming in from the left flank sir!" one of Hans' men said over the radio. "What are your orders?"

"Hold fire. Let the infantry deal with them. Keep concealment until I give the order to fire."

"Yes sir."

All around the hidden Tiger, machine guns chattered and rifles snapped as the Soviet assault squads dove for cover. Three Panzer IVs also held, waiting for their opportunity.

Finally, the main force of Soviet tanks caught up and began engaging the defensive line, their cannons and machine guns wreaking havoc on the infantry's defenses. "Ewald…"

' _BOOM!'_

An 88-millimetre shell rocketed out of the Tiger's gun barrel, slammed into the side of a T-34/57 and setting it on fire before exiting, then hit the T-34 behind it and knocked it out of action for the time being. As Johann reloaded, Adolf spoke up.

"Sir, Third Company reports they've run into an enemy force near the main airstrip and have engaged. They've lost two Panzer Ds and a Panzer F2, as well as three supporting anti-tank guns."

"Their Tiger?"

"Fully operational."

"Good. Tell Fourth to reinforce them and push them back to the back gate and hold out there until further orders."

"Understood"

As the exchange was finished, two ricochets rang the hull of the tank, resonating through the Tiger's belly. The men inside, however, barely took note of it.

"Fifty-seven millimetres." Sven said from below, quickly analyzing the calibre of shell that had been shot at them.

"Good luck with that." Adolf said. "These Tigers have a thick hide."

"Sharp teeth, too." Ewald said quietly before he depressed the trigger. The shot whizzed by a new-model T-34, which backed off just in time to avoid the shot. Hans noted the extra radio antennae sticking out of the turret, alerting him to the force he was dealing with.

"All panzers, enemy command tank spotted." Hans radioed to his entire _Panzertruppe_. "All non-engaged units, flank to the south of the southern main entrance to the bomber airstrip and engage the enemy's rear. We will hold them here."

"Yes sir. Fifth Platoon is en route. Will arrive in approximately ten minutes."

"Sixth Platoon is inbound. Give us fifteen."

Hans put the long-range radio down and began directing the troops around him. "Panzer IVs, keep yourselves entrenched. Lieutenant Bauer, can you hear me?"

" _Ja._ " the commander of the local infantry platoon replied. "We're well entrenched and are good on ammunition for now."

"Good. We will keep those T-34s off of you as long as you keep Ivan away from us."

"Got it." In the background, just before he cut the conversation off, Hans could hear his fellow officer giving orders to his men amid the sound of machine guns and cannons.

"Ewald, hold fire unless you're sure you can hit. Johann, Adolf; cover our infantry from any flanking attacks. Everyone, call out any threats to our men that you see and deal with them."

" _Verstanden!_ "

* * *

 ** _ **Oberleutnant**_** ** **Gerhard Köln****

 ** **POW,**** ** _ **Luftwaffe**_** ** **, Tatsinskaya Detachment****

 ** **30 Metres Outside Old Military Base****

 ** **1702 hours****

Gerhard sighed as he watched the sun begin to touch the treetops further out from him. " _So much like Russia._ " he thought, rocking on the balls of his feet. " _Although, not quite as cold as I remember_."

His business done, Gerhard zipped his pants back up and tightened his belt back up. He turned back to his escorts, who were politely looking anywhere but his direction. "Ready to go now."

The two looked at him with blank looks on their faces. Remembering the situation he was in, Gerhard made a motion of walking back to the camp. The two nodded and together, the group began walking back to the camp.

As they went, Gerhard went over what he had discussed with Maho and Nonna. Katyusha was still refusing to be within 20 metres of him, and so Nonna was assuming her position while Erika did her best to coordinate the two schools: 'Pravda' and 'Kuromorimine'.

' _What did I ever do to get put in this situation?_ " he asked himself as he walked up to his personal campfire and sat down, trying to warm himself up. The two girls sat down next to each other on the other side of the flames, remaining silent as the fire crackled and popped.

There was a whole lot of tension in the air. Gerhard cleared his throat and looked around, hoping to find something to do.

" _Anata wa ima iku koto ga dekimasu._ " a voice said from behind him. The two girls stood and left quickly, not looking back. Taking their place was none other than Nicole Silverstone, who looked slightly tired.

"Thank you." Gerhard expressed, rubbing his hands together. "I think we were about to pass out from all the tension."

Nicole smirked as she stoked the fire, finishing by placing another bundle of sticks onto the flames. "That's partially why I came over here."

Gerhard raised his eyebrows at her statement. "And the other reason?"

"I was told to find out some more about you and what happened." Nicole said, right off the bat.

" _At least she doesn't try to hide her intent._ " Gerhard thought. "Maho?"

"Yep."

"What exactly does she want?"

"Information, I guess." Nicole said, shrugging her shoulders. She fiddled with the sleeve of her jacket momentarily. She paused, then asked "What is Germany like? Or at least, what was it like?"

Gerhard sighed and closed his eyes. "It had been eighteen months since I'd last been in Germany when I was brought here by whatever happened. As I recall, Remagen was still a quiet town. Nothing really bothered us other than the _Führer'_ s call for men and blackouts after the bombings started." Gerhard chuckled a bit, thinking back to something that he and his squadron had done back when they were all in his hometown.

"What is it?" Nicole asked, intrigued. As far as she was aware, it wasn't normal for people to suddenly start laughing out of the blue. That was something more normally reserved for someone like Erika.

"Just...when my squadron went on leave back then, we went to everyone's home towns. We'd just become a triple-ace squadron, so we recieved a month of leave as gratitude from the _Luftwaffe_ for our accomplishments." Gerhard began, a smile still on his face. "Our last day there, we went to the Lüdendorff Bridge. One of my men, Fritz, I think…"

Here, Gerhard started to chuckle again, causing Nicole to give him a strange look. Whatever it was, it must certainly be funny. At least, that's what she hoped. Or maybe, whatever it was, it was only funny for a soldier who had been on the front too long.

"So, we went to the bridge and there's a group of soldiers guarding it, as we'd expected. They wouldn't let us by, but for some reason-"

" _Crack!_ "

Gerhard stopped talking as the echo of the crack rolled through the cold air. Unconsciously, his hand reached towards the back of his shirt, where his Luger was still hidden.

"Someone's exhaust must've backfired." Nicole said, standing up and looking towards the camp. Immediately, Gerhard pulled her down, eyes still scanning the desolate frozen wastelands.

"Get the hell off of me, you-" This time, another loud report interrupted the blonde as a bullet ricocheted off the fire, sending sparks flying into the air. Gerhard motioned for her to both be quiet and stay still.

"That's a rifle, not a backfire." he stated. Looking at her, he said "We need to get back to the camp." She nodded and grabbed the small pack she'd brought over. She had her doubts, but she figured it was best to listen to what the pilot had to say.

Suddenly, loud shouts in Russian called out nearby, followed by the discharge of a cannon. Screams resounded from the camp, along with multiple shouts of alarm as a multitude of cannon fire went off. From the camp, a congitent of T-34s and Panzer IVs departed from the back, turrets aimed in the opposite direction.

" _Scheisse_!" Gerhard said as a cloud of smoke bloomed over the girls' camp. He looked around closely, scanning every bit of land he could see. Satisfied there was no immediate danger, he sprinted off as fast as he could towards the relative safety of the buildings, leaving behind a confused and slightly angry Nicole.

"Hey!" she shouted towards his retreating form. Gerhard ignored her and continued sprinting, busting through a door and landing hard on the floor. He stood and began to observe what was happening outside.

Less than 50 metres away, a line of the German-themed school's heavy tanks formed a wall of steel against 6 Soviet T-34s. Gerhard recognised none of the defenders' panzers,but they were bouncing shots from the Soviets. As he watched, one of them, a sleek, massive tank like the one he'd been brought in on, fired. Its target looked like it imploded, metal flying everywhere as a ball of flame erupted from the wreck. The Soviets, apparently discouraged, turned and fled the scene as more tanks, including the Tiger I Gerhard now recognised as Maho's, showed up. Gerhard exited the building as Maho unbuttoned the tank, both looking to figure out what exactly just happened.

* * *

 ** _ **Erfrietor**_** ** **Vasily Reznov****

 ** **24th Soviet Tank Corps****

 ** **1st Squad, 9th Infantry Support Battalion****

 ** **607.45 Metres E of Old Military Base****

 ** **1721 hours****

Vasily slowly exhaled as he closely watched the commander of the Tiger get out of her vehicle and meet up with another Fascist in a flight uniform. The rest of his squad had already left, leaving him alone to do his work.

The pilot was facing him, though Vasily knew there was no way he could spot him. Vasily and his rifle were both wrapped in white cloth, and he was too well hidden among the trees. He exhaled again, his heartbeat starting to slow down as he lined up his shot.

Even though the pilot was a higher-ranking officer, the tank commander, a young girl by the looks of it, blocked his shot. As he watched, he realised the two must've been arguing, the girl becoming more animated as they continued.

His target decided, Vasily made the final steps before he shot. As he exhaled one last time, his heartbeat slowed to a light flutter. His index finger reached down, lightly touching the trigger as he ranged his shots and estimated drop.

Vasily fired his rifle.

* * *

 ** _ **Oberleutnant**_** ** **Gerhard Köln****

 ** **POW,**** ** _ **Luftwaffe**_** ** **, Tatsinskaya Detachment****

 ** **Old Military Base****

 ** **1723 hours****

Gerhard saw it before he heard it.

He tackled Maho to the ground, hearing her exhale suddenly as he did so. Before they even hit the ground, the sound of the sniper rifle reached them, echoing through the air.

' _Crr-r-rack!'_

Immediately, Gerhard motioned for Nicole to help Maho as he finally unveiled the Luger he had hidden in the back of his waistline. As Nicole dragged her commander back behind a wall, Gerhard fired off the entire clip of ammunition in his pistol. The result left his ears ringing and his temples pulsing as adrenaline raced through his blood. He joined the two girls as the line of heavy tanks turned their turrets and fired a volley into the treeline Gerhard had been futilely shooting at.

As explosions rumbled in the distance, Gerhard knelt down by Nicole, who was turned around, not facing him. "Nicole?"

She turned, raising her hands so Gerhard could see them. Both had blood on them, and for once, she had a nervous look on her face. She was stuttering as Gerhard pushed her aside and looked at Maho.

The round that the sniper had fired had hit the young girl in the abdomen, just below her rib cage. Gerhard could find no exit wound as he sat Maho up, allowing her to breathe a little easier in case her lung was hit. She was conscious, but the look in her eyes was slightly glassy and she kept losing focus as her head kind of lolled around.

By now, a small crowd of both schools' members had started to gather, only very few aware of the actual situation as the ones up front shifted to get a better view. Gerhard was starting to focus as he checked the wound one more time. "Nicole?"

The blonde shifted and moved up next to him, clearly unsure of what to do. "Yes?"

"I need you to help me." Gerhard replied, motioning to Maho's uniform. "I need to see how bad it is." There was some murmuring from the crowd of girls behind him at his comment, but he ignored it, instead building a small fire nearby as Nicole removed Maho's uniform jacket, exposing her bare skin to the freezing temperatures. Maho, though still dazed, groaned in discomfort and shifted.

"No. Sit still." Gerhard said, even though he knew that the girl couldn't understand him. Nicole, slowly coming out of her own shock, repeated the words in Japanese. She turned and said something to the nearest group of girls, which replied and moved around. Glancing around the area himself, Gerhard was relieved to see that the schoolgirls at least had enough sense not to be standing out in the open.

"How is she?" Nicole asked as the wind picked up for a bit, adding to the chill and causing Maho to shiver slightly as Gerhard got around to her back, where the Soviet round hd gone in. There was still a little bit of blood trickling from the wound as Gerhard looked around for a medical kit.

"Here. I already have it." Nicole passed him a medikit from one of the girls she had talked to a minute ago. Gerhard took it and opened up, spilling the contents out on the snow as he quickly started to work.

' _Where is it?_ ' he thought, looking for the antiseptic. He pawed through bottles, trying to find some sulfa or whatever the contemporary equivalent was, but it was all marked in Japanese. "Nicole, which one of these is the sulfa?"

"The what?"

"The sulfa." Gerhard repeated, looking up at her. "You know, it cleans the wound out, bubbles a lot?"

"Oh, you mean the peroxide." she said. The blonde moved over and gave Gerhard the first bottle he had originally picked up. He muttered his thanks as he took the bottle, opening it up and preparing to pour some of the liquid on the bullet hole. "Wait."

Gerhard paused and watched as Nicole took the peroxide and added it to some melted snow in her hand, then started to clean the wound. Once she had finished, she nodded and asked "Now what?"

Gerhard shooed her out of his way as he cleaned off the needle-nose pliers he found in the kit. "Hold her arms. I'd prefer my face to stay the way it is." She snorted in amusement and did as he asked, holding down Maho's arms and watched, along with everyone else who could see. Behind him, Gerhard heard two pairs of feet walk up behind him among some complaining sounds, but he focused on making sure he didn't screw up his work.

Gerhard inserted the pliers into the bullet hole, going until he felt the round. He got the bullet, but hesitated for a moment in pulling it out. "Someone, get some gauze and a bandage ready." Snow crunched under someone's footfalls as they moved to get the supplies ready. Finally, Erika crouched down beside Gerhard as he glanced up at her. She nodded, as did Nicole.

Gerhard pulled the Soviet round out of Maho's gut, then stopped Erika before she could put the bandage on. "Not yet." Gerhard cleaned the wound again, then allowed Erika to put the bandage on. His work done, Gerhard cleaned his hands off in the hydrogen peroxide and sat back. All at once, everyone behind him seemed to let out a massive exhale of breath as Maho seemed to relax.

"She should be good for now." Gerhard commented. Standing, the pilot looked around at the surrounding area. "We should move away from this place. The Soviets know we are here, and will be back in greater numbers soon." He looked towards the place where the sniper had fired from; nothing much was left but destroyed trees and burning bushes.

"He's right." a voice said. Gerhard was surprised as Katyusha and Nonna both came out of the crowd. Katyusha looked slightly remorseful, but Gerhard passed it off for now. There were more important things to do. Gerhard helped the crew of Maho's Tiger secure her on the engine deck of their tank as engines started up throughout the remnants of the military base. Gerhard stayed with the Kuromorimine commander as the massed group of tanks split according to school and went their separate ways.


	10. Chapter IX: Readying for War

**Chapter IX is here, actually sooner than I thought it would. I have state testing the rest of this week, however, and won't be able to work on Chapter X until all is said and done. So, hope you enjoy!**

 **Thank you everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorite so far! It means so much to me as an author, and I love to get your input! Now, on with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter IX: Readying For War**

" _Hope for the best, prepare for the worst._ "

-Chris Bradford

 _ **Glavnyi**_ **Fyodor Yakov**

 **24th Soviet Tank Corps**

 **Main Attack Force**

 **T-34/1942**

 **German-Held Airfield**

 **30th December 2024**

 **2024 hours**

Fyodor scanned the surrounding area for threats as the wind died down a little. He detected none and he hopped down from the tree he'd climbed into. All around him, the tanks of the main attack force were quiet as their crews warmed up and ate dinner around small campfires. This deep in the treeline, there would be no way for the Fascists to find them unless they were to come in themselves.

Walking over to his T-34/1942, the major clambered up and retrieved the radio headset. " _Leytenant_ Makarov, do you read me?"

" _Da, komandir._ " was the reply Fyodor received. "How may I help you?"

"How are the perimeter patrols doing?"

There was a minute or two as Fyodor's subordinate contacted the various squads keeping watch on the perimeter. As Fyodor waited, he lit a cigarette and took a long draw, letting the tobacco smoke into his lungs before exhaling. " _Too bad we can't find more of these._ "

"Sir?"

"What?" Fyodor replied, mildly annoyed at the interruption.

"Our patrols have found nothing for the past three hours. However, one of our snipers is missing in action. We feel that it is safe to presume him dead."

"Very well. Continue your duty. My own infantry will relieve you in two hours."

"Yes sir." Makarov replied. "Thank you very much. Makarov, out."

Fyodor replaced the radio into his tank and took another long draw at his cigarette. " _Now, to get some food."_

* * *

 **Katyusha**

 **T-34/85**

 **Pravda Girls High School Tankery Team**

 **Outside Abandoned Village, 7.32 km S of Airfield**

 **2136 hours**

Katyusha kept her head on a swivel as the tankery team moved through the snow. With her was the entire Pravda Tankery Team: 15 T-34/1943s, 20 T-34/85s, 5 Su-85s, 3 Su-76s, 10 Su-100s, 4 BT-7s, 2 KV-1s, the KV-2 and IS-2. In the centre of it all, the biggest gun on the Pravda team was rumbling along: the ISU-152-2, carrying the monster BL-10 152mm anti-tank cannon.

Despite the massive force she had at her disposal, as well as the numerous well-trained girls who were under her, the short blonde felt nervous about the events that everyone predicted were to come. Seeing Maho, her counterpart and friend (off the battlefield) laying on the ground with a gunshot wound was shocking, to say the least. As soon as she had heard the news, she'd jumped out of her tank and proceeded to run to where Nonna had said she was.

When she got there, almost all of Kuromorimine was crowded around a small building, and Katyusha could hear the harsh tones of the German pilot barking short phrases out. When she and Nonna finally broke through the crowd, they found him on the ground next to Maho, furiously using a few medical kits to try and mend the damage while Nicole helped him. Finally, he stood and nodded his head, then said something in German to Nicole. Even though she could barely understand him, she was able to get the general idea: it was time to go.

 _Which leaves us here._ Katyusha came out of her thoughts as she felt a tap on her foot. Looking down, she saw Tomoko Ogawa, her radio operator, motioning for her to answer her radio. She nodded and pressed the switch on her headset. "This is Katyusha."

"Katyusha, this is Nonna." Katyusha perked up at hearing her sub-commander's voice, even if it was only over the radio. "What is it?"

"I believe we should find a place to set up camp for the evening. Preferably, somewhere where we can hide well." Nonna replied.

Katyusha nodded, reviewing her knowledge of the surrounding area. "Do you think the old village will work?"

"In the south?" There was a pause as Katyusha's sub-commander presumably pondered the idea. "I suppose. There's plenty of cover there, and it isn't hard to get out of there." Katyusha nodded, thinking back to how her team had been humiliated by Ooarai a few years ago. Then, they fought for the thrill of Tankery. Now, though, they were fighting for their lives.

"Very well." Katyusha finally responded, coming out of her thoughts. "We'll head southwest until we get there. Katyusha, out." The commander brought her hand away from her radio and replaced it on the rim of the turret hatch, steadying herself as the T-34 went over a particularly rough patch of ground. "Hana?"

"Hmm?" The T-34's radio operator looked up at the sound of her name, then back down to the radio set she was tinkering with. "Yes, commander?"

"How is that going?" Katyusha asked, noting that the girl's hair was a little out of place, likely from a shock the wiring had given her.

"It's...complicated." Hana replied. "I can't quite understand...why...it's…" She trailed off as she stuck a pair of needlenose pliers into the radio, fiddling with something. Katyusha sighed and let her be as she looked ahead for the village.

She was trying to get Hana to achieve radio communications outside of the immediate area, which were still strangely blocked. Why, Katyusha did not know, but she was working to get word out. If they could get the JSDF here, then Katyusha was sure that the massive problem, whatever caused it, would be solved, one way or another.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Pzkpfw. VI Ausfuhrung B 'Tiger II'**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School Tankery Team**

 **2 kilometres from Abandoned Town No. 3**

 **10.6 km WSW of German-held Airfield**

 **2200 hours**

Maho groaned as she started coming back to consciousness. Her mind was reluctant to leave the shelter of her blackout, but she knew she had to get up. For all she knew, she could be in enemy hands right now.

 _Gerhard tackled her to the ground as she felt something red-hot rip into her abdomen from the back. She let her breath out sharply at the sudden pain, wincing as she tried not to pass out. Gerhard immediately stood and pulled something out from behind him, resulting in a gasp from the people around the two of them. He shouted something as he fired off the pistol in his hand at something behind her; what, she couldn't hear._

Maho gasped as she felt the pain come into focus. It wasn't as sharp as she thought it would be; rather, it was the realization that she'd been shot with a live round. The pain started to fade as her mind tried to sink back into unconsciousness.

 _Maho made no move to object as she felt herself propped up, someone supporting her shoulders. She was disinclined to open her eyes anymore than she had them, and could only see blurred forms of people moving around. Sound was basic; around her, she felt the reverberation of the ground she'd come to associate with cannon fire. Behind her, where the pain was, she felt fingers probing the wound as hot blood seeped out onto her now-exposed skin. Involuntarily, she shivered._

Suddenly, Maho came back to full consciousness as the tank she was riding on jolted suddenly. She awoke to find the form of Nicole watching her, a worried look on her face. Behind her, in the commander's hatch of the Tiger II she must've been on, Erika was looking back at her as well, the same look on her face. "Captain."

"What happened?" Maho asked, trying to sit up. She found she was secured in place with a few tie-downs, as well as wrapped in a fairly thick blanket.

"You mean you don't remember?" Nicole asked as Erika ducked into the turret, saying something to her crew.

"I know we came under attack from the Russians, and no one was hurt." Maho replied, remembering back to the arrival of the T-34s. "We scared them off, and then I went to talk to Gerhard when…" Maho trailed off, then looked around, noticing the absence of the German _oberleutnant_. "Where is he?"

Her two subordinates exchanged a look before Nicole responded. "He told us explicitly not to tell you. And to be honest, no one knows."

Maho felt a rush of anger towards the pilot suddenly. He was the only hope they had right now, and he just walked off without telling why. "Are you able to tell me anything about him?"

"He said he'll meet us later at the village where we met Pravda the first time." Nicole said, taking over as Erika focused on commanding the Tankery team. "He said he'll be back as soon as he possibly can. He decided to go on foot, though."

Maho shook her head. Why she was getting so mad at Gerhard, she didn't know. No matter what though, her first priority was ensuring each and every one of the girls under her supervision were getting home safely.

"Get these off, would you?" Maho complained, tugging at the tie downs. Nicole nodded and carefully set about to releasing the restraints, ensuring she didn't fall off the Tiger. Once completed, she sat back down on her knees, which were slightly spread to provide more stability on the moving vehicle. Maho sat up, glad to finally be able to move freely. She felt a little spike of pain where the bandages were, but it quickly faded away. "Who helped me?"

"With that?" Nicole clarified, nodding towards Maho's abdomen. When she received a nod in return, Nicole continued. "Gerhard. As soon as he realised what happened, he started working on getting you healed." Nicole paused for a moment as the two listened to Erika yelling into the radio incoherently. "I think he was actually scared for you. He kept focused though, finished in about half an hour."

Maho, though not exactly surprised by the response, was still taken aback. She began to revise what she had originally thought of the pilot. ' _I guess he can be trusted, at least to an extent._ ' Her thinking done, Maho started transitioning into her earlier commanding mindset "Erika!"

The shouting in the turret of the Tiger II stopped, followed by Erika poking her head out of the hatch. " _Hai_?"

"Where are we?"

After a brief exchange with her crew, Erika responded "We're about a kilometer away from our destination. Why?"

Maho stood up slowly on the rocking engine deck as the battlegroup passed a stand of dead trees. "Get us back to our tanks. And have the Panzer IIIs split out: one up front, one to the rear. Have them report on anything they see."

"Okay." As she carried out her orders, Maho looked to the rear of the formation. ' _What the hell do you think you're doing?_ '

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 **POW,** _ **Luftwaffe**_ **, Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **8 kilometers from Rendezvous Point with Kuromorimine**

 **2217 hours**

Gerhard sighed as he followed the tank tracks north, his breath steaming in the air. He continued trudging through the snow as best as he could in his ironshod boots. His feet were freezing, but he wouldn't let that stop him before he got to a sufficient shelter. Looking around, he realised he knew approximately where he was. Up ahead, about fifty metres away, was a clearing with a few busted-down trees. Those left were riddled with enough bullet holes to pierce the armor of a panzer.

' _This is where I was captured._ ' Gerhard thought, a small grin on his face. He sped up, retracing the path of his earlier dash for freedom as best he could. It was less of a challenge than he thought it would; he just had to follow the path of destruction Erika and Nonna's tanks had made as they chased him.

After another ten or so minutes, Gerhard saw the stand of trees he had been hiding in. Inside, the remains of his campsite were still intact: the burnt-out campfire, the stack of spare firewood, and a couple cans of rations he'd left behind in his rush.

Feeling safe, Gerhard sat down next to the campfire and set to work. In about fifteen to twenty minutes, he had a fire blazing away and a can of rations cooking in the bowl he had finally fashioned out of his aircraft's scrap metal. Satisfied, he sat down on the remaining firewood and pulled out his spoils.

When the two Japanese schools had finally departed the old base, Gerhard had immediately set out to where the sniper had fired from. Against what he thought, the sniper was eliminated, likely from the massive high-explosive barrage the treeline had sustained. But, even luckier is what he found lying feet from the dead Soviet soldier: his rifle, completely intact. The Mosin-Nagant looked to be in good shape, though there was a little wear on the stock. Gerhard salvaged whatever else he could from the soldier, then gave him a quiet, proper burial.

Looking back over the rifle, Gerhard appreciated how well-kept it was. He remembered going to basic training, where he had been noticed for his exceptional marksmanship. He decided that he wanted to fly, however, and hadn't really thought of it since. Setting the rifle aside, Gerhard also pulled out the twenty-three rounds of ammunition he had found as well. He loaded one into the chamber, topping off the loaded clip.

Next, the pilot unrolled the winter clothes he had found as well, glad to have a spare set. As much as he wanted to, however, there was no way on _Göttes_ name he was taking clothes off out here. It was too cold, and Gerhard rather liked not having frostbite or hypothermia. However, he did exchange the _ushanka_ for his pilot's helmet. Shortly thereafter, he felt his ears warming up for the first time in weeks.

The fire crackled as the German pilot put the clothes in his bag along with the ammunition. He kept the rifle out, ready to go in case he needed it. The sky had faded into darkness long ago, and the light cast eerie shadows among the trees. Feeling unsafe, Gerhard started digging into the snow for a place to spend the night. Once completed, he extinguished the flames, and, feeling warm and full, crawled in and started falling asleep. Just before he passed into his subconscious, he thought of Maho and her team; for good measure, he prayed to God they would make it through this.


	11. Chapter X: The Home Front

**Sorry about the wait guys! Both my beta reader and myself just finished exams, but we still got it out before the end of May. As always, information on my story is up on my profile page, and I do my best to keep it updated.**

 **Thank you both to ThortheMighty321 and delta2177 for your reviews last chapter. I'm glad you and everyone else is enjoying it!**

 **On with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter X: The Home Front**

" _When it comes to civilian deaths, violent hostilities play no favorites._ "

\- John Conyers

 **Jirou Tanaka**

 **Japanese Meteorological Agency**

 **Abashiri Station**

 **31st December 2024**

 **0638 hours**

Jirou opened the door to his office and set his things down in the chair before turning back and flicking on the lights. He rubbed his hands together and took off his coat; the winter this year was proving more severe than Hokkaido normally experienced, probably due to the violent storms that Siberia was producing this year.

Walking out of his room into the hall, the 38-year old scientist walked through the darkened research centre to the break room, turning on the lights in there and starting a cup of tea. He opened the fridge and rummaged through it, seeing nothing of interest to him. _Guess I'll have to go get something later._

Jirou shut the door and put the mug of steeping tea in the microwave, walking out to the hall again. Checking his watch, he realised that it was almost time for the rest of the research crew to get here. Come to think of it, he _was_ a little late getting out of the house today.

Outside, a cold wind howled fiercely as Jirou started up the main power for the research station. Lights flickered on and the hum of computers began to fill the small research centre as they started up. At the same time, the scientist heard the door open, followed by the voices of two people talking loudly to be heard over the wind. He identified them as Hachiro Nagata and Misaki Yoshimoto, his other two fellow meteorologists that worked with him. "Jirou!"

"Tea's in the kitchen!" he responded as he sat at his desk, logging into his computer. He received a word of thanks from both of them and heard them walk into the kitchen.

As another gust of wind buffeted the walls of the meteorological station, Jirou opened up his email and was surprised to see that he already had mail. The timestamp on it was extremely early in the morning, 0021 hours to be exact. Not only that, but the correspondence from the JMA's headquarters in Tokyo was marked urgent. Jirou, his curiosity piqued, opened the email and began reading.

As he read through the report, Jirou heard his two colleagues come into the office, talking to each other as they too sat down at their computers. "Jirou, how was your night?" Hachiro asked from behind him.

"Fairly good." he replied absentmindedly. "Yours?"

"The power went out in my neighborhood." Hachiro answered, a little disappointment in his voice. "Thankfully I have the fireplace, so I managed."

"Uhhh-huh." Jirou hummed as he finished reading. "Hey, did we have the EMF equipment on these past few nights?"

"Eh?" Misaki questioned, now looking up from her computer. She stood and walked out of the office, presumably to the lab. "Yeah, it says it's been on for…" Her voice trailed off, causing Jirou to follow her footsteps, motioning for Hachiro to accompany him.

The two joined Misaki in the lab, where she was going through the readings from the EMF detector and the gaussmeters. She glanced at them as he and Hachiro entered, then resumed panning through the data. "Look at that."

The data graphs were on the 29th, showing activity after 1200 hours. Hachiro, obviously not able to believe what he saw, took his glasses off and cleaned them.

"We had a storm that night, but there was nothing that should have caused... _that_." Misaki said as she walked over to the weather data computer. Jirou looked at the massive measurements that the storm had peaked at: almost 100,000 hertz. "What was the lightning activity like at the time?"

"A little high, but nothing unusual." Hachiro stated as soon as he found it. "But a few of the cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-air strikes were very intensive. Jirou grunted; he'd never put much faith in the ground instruments that could supposedly measure the voltage of those types of lightning.

"I'm going to call the headquarters to see what they want us to find otherwise. Keep working." Misaki and Hachiro nodded and continued looking through their work as Jirou called the JMA to find out what to do.

* * *

 **Shiho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School Ship** _ **Graf Zeppelin**_

 **Abashiri School Ship Harbor**

 **0851 hours**

Shiho briskly walked through the passageways of the _Graf Zeppelin_ 's island, making her way to the command centre. She was eager to see if they had found any more information on her daughter and the Kuromorimine team. Seeing as the last contact had contained a request to take all remaining tanks in the school's arsenal as well as live ammunition worried her, seeing as the same had happened over on the _Kiev_ with Pravda.

Shiho slipped past a congitent of Naval Science students, who, upon recognising the Panzerkraft legend, moved to the sides and allowed her passage. She nodded her thanks as the command centre hatch came into view. She sped up and opened the hatch, securing it shut behind her.

"Headmaster, have you…"

"Not yet." he replied, looking up from his desk. He resumed speaking with the police officer next to him as Shiho calmed herself against what she perceived as his indifference to the situation.

"Sir, if I may suggest…"

"Miss Nishizumi, I respect you for your accomplishments and can understand your concern for your daughter, but now is not the time. The police will take care of the situation for now." The Black Forest headmaster took a breath, then continued. "First, we need to see about the electronics in the area. If we can at least reestablish radio contact with the teams, we can at least figure out what the issue is that required that... _unusual_ request."

Shiho nodded almost imperceptibly and exited the room before she punched the headmaster. She would find out where her daughter was, come hell or high water.

* * *

 **Sergeant Hyosuke Nagano**

 **Abashiri Police Department**

 **Near Pravda Girls High School Training Grounds**

 **1201 hours**

"Roger. Entering training ground airspace now."

"Understood. Be advised, stay on the lookout for any suspicious activity." The sergeant replied in the affirmative as he banked his airplane around to get a better view of the ground around him. There was little that he could see here though aside from trees and some more trees. He decided to move further south, deeper into the training grounds. He knew there was an old Second World War airfield he could set down in if he needed to.

Hyosuke continued his flight path, making minute adjustments to compensate for changes in wind patterns. He relaxed slightly as the plane droned on, listening to music as he kept a weather eye out for any sign of the two schools.

Finally, after almost another half-hour, Hyosuke noticed a large column of smoke rising up. Checking his map, he noticed it was in the general direction of the airfield. "Command, I've spotted a large column of smoke to my south. I'm headed in to investigate the source, over."

"Roger. Maintain caution." Hyosuke replied in the affirmative and took back manual control of the aircraft, interested to see what he had discovered.

* * *

 _ **Hauptgefreiter**_ **Fritz Müller**

 **Messerschmitt Bf. 109 G-6**

 **Luftwaffe, Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Pravda Girls High School Training Grounds Airspace**

 **1237 hours**

Fritz rolled his aircraft over as he went into a dive and released the 250-kilogram bomb underneath his fuselage. He turned back up into the sky, hearing the bomb go off. He leveled out, built up some speed, and banked back around to observe the damage.

Two Soviet T-34s were burning near the runway as the survivors of that battlegroup turned the way they had come. Satisfied with his work, he climbed into the air and began to circle the air. Even though it was apparent that the Soviets had no air cover, Gerhard had always taught him to never let his guard down.

 _Which reminds me…_ The leader of Fritz's squadron had been missing for the past two, almost three days. The search parties had found the wreck of his aircraft, but no body. It could only mean he was still alive. Or, he was long enough to get away from the wreck. Fritz sighed as he silently prayed that his mentor and friend was okay.

"All units, unidentified aircraft approaching from the north at four hundred metres. They are not responding to any hails. Please track them down and deal with accordingly."

"Yes sir!" Fritz said. "This is _Hauptgefreiter_ Müller. I will take the responsibility." Fritz turned north and climbed up to one thousand metres, the 109 responding well to his commands. He opened up the throttle and scanned the area below him, looking for the aircraft.

After some time, he finally found it. It was a strange white aircraft, moving fairly slow. Fritz noted that it had only one propeller. "Command, enemy aircraft spotted. Moving closer to investigate, over."

Fritz ignored the reply and drifted closer to the plane, observing every bit of it he could. It looked to be similar to the Fieseler _Storch_ reconnaissance aircraft, and, like it, had no weapons that were obvious. The pilot appeared not to notice Fritz's plane buzzing behind him as the German pilot looked for distinguishing signs. He did not see anything, until suddenly, he noticed a small red symbol on the tail. Fritz could barely make it out, but he figured that it was safe to assume it was a Soviet plane.

"Command, it appears that the aircraft is a Soviet reconnaissance aircraft. What should I do?"

"Shoot it down. We cannot let the enemy to scout our defenses. All other units, be on high alert for additional enemy air forces."

As the other pilots in the air responded, Fritz pulled back on the throttle and slotted in behind the reconnaissance plane. Estimating the range to the target, he let out a short burst.

The two 13mm machine guns and single 20mm cannon ripped through the thin aluminum of the recon plane's fuselage, causing it to wobble in the air. In response the plane pulled up and to the right, losing even more speed. Fritz pulled the throttle back even more; whether or not he meant to, the pilot of the plane was getting him to slow down a little too much. While the Messerschmitt was more maneuverable, if he made the wrong move, the engine would stall out.

As the reconnaissance plane continued banking, Fritz broke off and threw the throttle forwards, pulling up into the sky. The enemy plane disappeared, but only for a moment as Fritz pulled an Immelmann turn and started a shallow dive on the plane.

* * *

 **Sergeant Hyosuke Nagano**

 **Abashiri Police Department**

 **Near Pravda Girls High School Training Grounds**

 **1244 hours**

"What the hell!?" Hyosuke cursed as he tried in vain to find what was shooting at him. He swung the plane from side to side as more tracers flew by the cockpit. He tried the radio, but all he heard was silence. ' _Radio must be destroyed.'_ This was going to make an intereting report when he got back, to say the least.

The plane shuddered as the next burst of fire hit its mark. The plane suddenly jerked, dove slightly, then pulled back up. Whoever it was, they had shot up his elevator badly. Hyosuke wrestled for control, then finally leveled the plane out as much as he could.

' _At this rate, it'd be better to put her on the ground.'_ Looking around, he spotted a clearing off to the right. It was a distance away though; there was a good chance he wouldn't make it.

"A little chance is better than none at all." he said to himself. The veteran of the police force aimed the plane towards the clearing as another burst of fire caused the plane to shake violently. Below him, he heard metal wrench as what he assumed was the undercarriage was shot away. Hyosuke knew he was getting extremely lucky, and he would make use of it while he could.

Even as he thought that, the plane shuddered again and bullets flew past him, hitting the windshield and the dash. The little bush plane started to roll over as Hyosuke looked back and saw that he had a hole in his right wing. An alarm from the dash was informing him that he had a fuel leak somewhere. In short, the plane was gone.

Hyosuke tried to release his restraints while keeping one hand on the control sticks. He got one, but heard one final burst of gunfire behind him as the plane flew into the trees.

* * *

 _ **Hauptgefreiter**_ **Fritz Müller**

 **Messerschmitt Bf. 109 G-6**

 **Luftwaffe, Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Pravda Girls High School Training Grounds Airspace**

 **1237 hours**

Fritz grimaced as he watched the enemy plane explode into a ball of flames just as it hit the trees. The rounds must have torn into the fuel lines, and one of the incendiary rounds had set the petrol alight. One way or another, there was sure to be no survivor from that crash.

"Command, enemy recon plane destroyed and pilot is eliminated. Returning to base."

As the control tower responded with praise, Fritz turned the 109 back around and began heading back to the airfield.

* * *

 **See y'all next time! Remember, feel free to review, fave, and follow!**

 **KTA334, signing off.**


	12. Chapter XI: Under Fire

**Hello folks! Back for Chapter XI! Got to say, finding the appropriate way to put the sound a DT machine gun makes into writing is hard.**

 **Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter XI: Under Fire**

" _Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there securely and forever._ "

-Leon Trotsky

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 **POW** _ **, Luftwaffe**_ **, Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **1.5 kilometres from Rendezvous Point with Kuromorimine**

 **1 January 2024**

 **1034 hours**

Gerhard paused at the edge of the treeline, breathing in the crisp, cold air. He'd been marching since first light, eager to get back to see Maho and make sure that she and the rest of the schoolgirls were still okay.

' _What would be nice is if they left the area in general. I should ask why they haven't._ ' Shaking his head, Gerhard scanned the area in between him and the rendezvous. He saw no Soviet tanks, or any, for that matter. Just as he started moving, a flash of light blinded him momentarily. "What the…"

Looking in the direction the light had originated from, Gerhard noticed another familiar feature; a riverbed. Gerhard grinned; his airplane was in the way. It was a good chance to salvage anything else he might need.

Moving out again, the _Luftwaffe_ pilot began a brisk walk through the snow, glad that the new snow here was thin and covered a nice, well-packed slab of snow. In short, he wasn't knee-deep in snow. A small smile on his face at his good fortune, Gerhard kept pushing onwards.

The walk was longer than it looked, but finally, Gerhard reached the wreck of his plane. The 109 was half-buried in snow, but the cockpit was still just reachable. He brushed off the snow and opened up the cockpit, sliding back the glass canopy.

Digging around, Gerhard went through papers, broken glass, and the occasional book. He saw one of his favorites, technically a banned American western novel, and grabbed it. If he got bored, at least he had something to do now.

Finally, Gerhard found his prize; the _Maschinenpistole 40_ , along with the four extra magazines he constantly kept with it. He never trusted what would have happened if he'd been shot down in Russia, and the MP40 was his insurance, if you would. Not only that, but it was also a good deterrent for bears and wolves, as he'd had the misfortune to earn once.

Retrieving the submachine gun from the plane, Gerhard packed it all together and slung the weapon over his back. Satisfied, he continued on his way. Just over the ridge was his destination.

* * *

 _ **Leytenant**_ **Dimitri Izmaylov**

 **Soviet 24th Tank Corps**

 **T-34/1942**

 **Rear Guard Defense Force**

 **1.2 kilometres from Abandoned Village**

 **1057 hours**

Dimitri grunted as the T-34 went airborne over a snowdrift, crashing down on the ground hard, burying itself in the snow. The engine revved as Yuri pushed it. The tracks dug out of the snow and found traction again, and just like that, the tank was mobile again.

"Nicely done, Yuri!" Bogdan complimented, holding onto the cannon breech with a grin. Alexsandr gave his praise as Dimitri opened the hatch and cooled off in the rushing air. He hated the feeling of weightlessness.

Looking behind him, Dimitri checked that all the other tanks were still in formation. Three more T-34/1942s and two T-34/57s followed behind in a loose diamond formation. Dimitri and his men were getting a little mad; they'd been promised Germans to kill, and they hadn't seen any in almost two days. They were restless by now, and were itching to fire their guns in anger.

As the six Soviet tanks drove along their patrol route, they entered a small valley, with a small village in the middle. "All tanks, stop!"

The armored column stopped at the top of the ridge as Dimitri took out his binoculars and began scanning the area. "Yuri, radio."

" _Da, komandir._ "

Dimitri took the radio and opened up communications. "This is Raven leader to any other commanders. I need an update on the battle situation."

There was static, then some more static, and some more. Not dissuaded, Dimitri tried again. "I repeat, this is Raven leader. I am…"

"We hear you Raven. This is Kestrel." Major Yakov's voice came through the radio set, sounding worn, but with a fiery edge. "We have been forced to retreat from the enemy airfield and are regrouping in the woods to the south. Keep your patrol route and meet us here at midnight."

"Yes sir! We will."

"Oh, and _Leytenant_? Keep an eye out for the enemy reinforcements."

" _Da._ Raven, out!" Immediately, Dimitri threw the radio back into the tank, causing Bogdan to curse and yell out in surprise. "Sorry, Bogdan."

"What's wrong, sir?" Alexsandr asked from below.

"Our commander is a yellow-stomached coward is what!" Dimitri growled. "We didn't make it to the control tower on time, so he follows orders and retreats, despite being right there!" He shook his in a mix of disappointment and anger. "We are the pride of the Red Army! We never retreat! It is charge, charge, charge!"

" _Da,_ but we need to follow our orders, or it is us that will be sent to the penal battalions."

"Mmmmm." Dimitri consented. He would simply just let his anger simmer. Continuing his search, he finally saw something. His eyes immediately lit up as he saw the best opportunity of his tankman career through his binoculars.

Ducking back into his tank, Dimitri told his men the news. "Yuri, tell the men. Let's get ready to fight. Forward, for the Motherland!"

"Ura!"

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **First** _ **Panzertruppe**_

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **Rendezvous Point**

 **1114 hours**

Maho sighed as she scanned the surrounding area again. Nothing. Noticing her commander's worried expression, Hisayo took off her headset. " _Kommandant_ , I'm sure he's fine. Remember, he IS on foot." She grinned and looked at her fellow crewmembers, mouthing her thoughts so Maho couldn't hear.

Maho hummed in agreement with her radio operator, then stopped. "Hey! I'm not interested…"

The other crew members started snickering aloud as Maho grumbled, choosing to ignore her crew. She looked through her binoculars, feeling uneasy about the buildings blocking her view. "Azumi, do you see anything?"

"No." the other Tiger commander replied from her position. The two Tigers were covering each other's rear, while Aki's Panzer III kept a wide perimeter patrol out of the valley. "Aki?"

"Nothing yet, commander." Her voice turning sly, she added "Should we also be looking for the pilot, ma'am?"

"Will you not!?" Maho cried, getting annoyed. She wasn't actually mad, though, and, if anything that Darjeeling-san had told her, she knew exactly why. Sighing yet again, Maho took a breath and tried to change the subject. "On the other hand…"

 _Clang!_

"Contact!"

Stopped short, Maho shut the hatch of the Tiger and began looking around for the enemy tanks. Gerhard had said it would probably be Soviet tanks attacking Kuromorimine, and so she was on the lookout for the T-34. She winced as another shot bounced off the turret. ' _Well, at least the subject changed._ '

"T-34 sighted, up ahead!" Riko called. "Sighting!"

"Fire!"

' _BOOM!_ '

The 88-millimetre Kwk. 36 cannon fired a shot straight at the sighted target. However, the tank swerved and avoided the round, then resumed its charge.

" _Kuso!_ " Riko muttered, resighting the target as another tank appeared from the right.

"Azumi, get back to back!" Maho ordered. "Cover each other's flank!"

"We can't!" the Tiger commander replied. "We're engaged from three directions!" The radio cut out for a second, then came back, but all Maho could hear was the sound of shouting and combat.

Putting the radio down, Maho started doing her job, sighting targets through the cupola's sights. "Riko, traverse right, twenty degrees." As the turret whirred, the Kuromorimine captain ranged the target. "Three hundred metres, load armor-piercing!"

" _Hai!_ "

" _Ute!_ "

The Tiger's gun boomed again, and this time, the T-34 stopped short, looking derelict in the snow. As Maho watched, three hatches opened up on the tank and three men jumped out, weapons in hand. They moved right, and disappeared behind a building, causing Maho to forget about them.

"Good shooting." Maho replied. As Riko expressed her thanks, the glass suddenly broke on the commander's cupola of the Tiger, showering Maho with the shards as she ducked and covered her face.

"They have an anti-tank rifle, Maho!" Yukiko called. "Enemy squads moving in on the far right!"

Knowing what targeting the men meant, Maho's mind immediately repulsed the idea of killing them, though she realised there was no difference whether they were in a tank or on foot. "Ignore them."

" _Kommandant_?"

"Just ignore them!" Maho shouted, looking down into the tank. When she looked back up, however, she realised she had made a mistake; she wasn't paying attention.

"Enemy tank! Left traverse, left traverse!"

The turret slowly traversed, but the T-34 was too quick and got around behind the Tiger. As it drove by the Tiger, Maho clearly saw the red Soviet star emblazoned on the side of the turret. At the same time, the action seemed to slow down as the T-34's turret turned, looking at the rear of the Tiger. ' _Someone help us.'_

The T-34 fired.

* * *

 **Nicole Silverstone**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **Second** _ **Panzertruppe**_

 **PzKpfw. IV Ausf. H**

 **KGHS Second** _ **Panzertruppe**_ **Staging Area**

 **1056 hours**

Nicole looked at her watch, muttered a curse in German, then looked back out over the area. With her was the entirety of the tanks under her command: 7 more Panzer IVs, 4 Jagdpanzer IV/70s, 10 Panthers, and 2 Panzer III L scout tanks. Thinking about it, if one disregarded the tank destroyers, Maho's First _Panzertruppe_ resembled the elite German _Schwere-Panzerabteilung_ of World War II, while Nicole's was more similar to the standard panzer battalion. In fact, some of the more historically-minded girls felt that the Panzerkraft team should reorganise the Sensha-do teams so the tank destroyers were in their own _Panzerjager Abteilung_.

Nicole shook her head. She was getting sidetracked. Opening up her comms set, she radioed Maho, only to hear silence. A little concerned, the young girl tried the sub-commander.

"What is it?" Erika said, sounding like she was just waking up from a nap.

"Have you heard from Maho recently?" Nicole asked, ignoring the fact that the school's second-in-command was sleeping. Even if she didn't completely understand the whole scope of the situation, it might be for the best. Nicole remembered a saying from the American military; 'Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lay down, and never stay awake when you can sleep.'

"No." Erika said. A yawn. Then… "Did you try to talk to her?"

"Yeah. Her radio's off or something." Nicole pondered what might have happened. They were in a war zone now, and anything could have happened. "Should I go see what happened?"

"That would probably be good." Erika replied, sounding more awake now. "Report back when you find her."

"Roger." Nicole changed the radio setting so she was only broadcasting locally. "Hana, Mio, and Sakura, follow me. We're going to see where the commander is." Nicole paused as she waited for Aoi to start up the engine again. The Maybach stuttered once, twice, and on the third attempt roared to life. "Meisa, you have command of the _Panzertruppe_ until we return. Keep the radio on."

" _Hai!_ " the Jagdpanzer commander replied. She sounded unsure of herself, but Nicole trusted her.

"Reconnaissance Group _Nachtigall_ , roll out!"

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 **POW** _ **, Luftwaffe**_ **, Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **892 metres from Rendezvous Point with Kuromorimine**

 **1 January 2024**

 **1101 hours**

Gerhard put his map and compass back into his backpack, assured he was on the right course. He was looking forward to getting back to other people, even if he could only speak with one of them without a translator.

' _Maybe I should get Nicole to help me refresh my Japanese._ ' he thought as he kept a steady pace across the snow-covered fields. Just one more thing to add to his to-do list. ' _I should really stop giving myself things to do for once._ '

Coming across a pile of rocks, Gerhard set down his pack and weapons, taking a seat on the cold stone. After the initial shock of the cold wore off, he relaxed for a moment, glad to take a reprieve from his long walk. Just a little further.

Feeling a little overheated, the pilot undid the straps on his 'borrowed' _ushanka_ and uncovered his ears, letting some of the heat escape. As he began to relax, a sudden noise made him stop and tense up again. ' _No rest for the weary._ '

Standing and grabbing the MP40, Gerhard listened again, breathing through his mouth as to be as quiet as possible.

' _Drtttttt-drttttttt-drtttttt!_ '

' _BOOM!'_

Gerhard's eyes widened as he recognised the sound of a DT machine gun and a large cannon discharging. From the sound of it, it wasn't too far, and it was in the direction of the rendezvous point. Now that the thick _ushanka_ wasn't covering his ears, he could hear what sounded like a full-scale battle going on.

" _Scheiss!_ " Forgetting about his rest stop, the German pilot grabbed his weapons and gear and began to run towards the valley, trying to find out what was going on. At best, Soviet patrols had run into German patrols. At worst...well, he didn't want to think about that.

Unslinging the Mosin-Nagant from his shoulder, he ran across the open field, hoping a Soviet patrol wasn't watching him.

Gerhard finally reached the ridgeline overlooking the small village that was marked as the rendezvous point. As he feared, two of the German school's, Kuromorimine, if he remembered correctly, tanks were locked in combat with five Soviet T-34s of varying models. A sixth one lay derelict, obviously knocked out.

It seemed the two Tigers were managing themselves well, though, as they were slowly backing up to one another and covering the flanks as much as possible. It was apparent that the Soviet tankers were not too eager to get their tanks destroyed as they tried to take out the two German heavies. Gerhard smiled. Even 80 years later, German engineering was dominant.

' _Well, not really 80 years later._ ' As Gerhard looked through the scope at the different combatants, he recognised Maho's Tiger was under fire from three of the T-34s, yet she was making sure that her armor always faced the enemy tanks, and kept the others from getting behind her.

As Gerhard watched though, he saw a flash of movement. Diverting his attention, he saw a squad of infantry slowly moving up to attack the other Tiger. With them, they carried a PTRS-41 and, on closer inspection, some anti-tank grenades.

Cursing for the fifth or sixth time that half-hour, the pilot steadied his aim and began to slow his breathing. Remembering what his instructor had told him all those years ago, he singled out the highest-ranking soldier he could find, a _leutnant_.

' _Crrrr-rrack!_ '

The butt of the rifle kicked into Gerhard's shoulder as the report snapped through the cold air, only to be drowned out by the fierce skirmish below. The shot went low, though, and only served to alert the squad they were under attack. Gritting his teeth, he set up again, compensating for the information he had gained. He'd get one more chance before the Soviets attacked the Tiger; he wasn't about to let the young women in that tank die if he had the ability to stop it.

' _Crrrr-rrack!_ '

This time, Gerhard let the rifle push his shoulder back, lessening the amount of tension from recoil while keeping the barrel from kicking up. As a result, the Soviet officer went down, a bullet in his chest and his blood staining the snow around him. Without pause, Gerhard moved on to the soldier with the PTRS, the next round having already replaced the spent round in the chamber.

' _Crrrr-rrack!_ '

Another Soviet infantryman went down, and the remaining members of the squad finally turned off from their target, deciding Gerhard was the bigger threat. He picked two more of them off before switching over to the MP40 and moving on. If he could, he'd get down to Maho's Tiger.

However, even as he moved, he looked up and caught his breath. The turret of Maho's tank was trying to track a T-34, but it was too slow. Gerhard watched as the Soviet medium tank got to the rear armor and fired a shot straight into the engine block at point-blank range. He saw no ricochet, meaning the round must have gone in.

" _Nien!_ " he shouted in defiance. Even as he swore to destroy that tank, the T-34/1942 went up in flames as multiple shots came in from the other side of the valley. Gerhard looked to see four Panzer IVs, Nicole's in the lead, charging down the hillside and into the town. The Soviets appeared to be panicking and started to retreat, the remaining four tanks moving in Gerhard's direction as they picked up scattered infantry squads. The remaining Tiger and four Panzers grouped together and stopped, not following the retreating Soviets any further than the limits of the village.

" _Gott, solltest du besser nicht tot sein._ " Gerhard muttered as he charged down the hill, almost going head over heels multiple times. He saw the guns of three tanks turn on him, but they stopped as Nicole unbuttoned her hatch and called out to him. He waved her off however, and finally made it to Maho's tank, throwing everything off of him and climbing up, opening the commander hatch.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **First** _ **Panzertruppe**_

 **Rendezvous Point**

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **1129 hours**

Maho looked up as her commander's hatch opened, sunlight streaming through and causing her to squint as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. Her eyes finally adjusted, and she realised she was looking at a very panicked looking Gerhard. Upon seeing her, however, he let out a massive sigh and rested his head against the side of the hatch. " _Mien Gott, sie Angst die Scheisse outta mich_."

Maho took his words as a statement of relief and held out her hand. He grasped it and hauled her out of the tank. Upon seeing Nicole, she said "Haruka is hurt. We need to get her out." She nodded to Gerhard, indicating her request for Nicole to pass on the information.

The pilot responded to Nicole, who translated. "He wants to know how badly she's injured, and how none of you are dead." Gerhard said something else, and Nicole added "He says that a hit like that would usually knock out half the crew of a tank."

"Later. Right now, we need to get Haruka out and healed." Maho knocked on the turret of the Tiger, causing the driver's hatch to open up. Gerhard moved over to assist, and Maho's driver slowly came up out of the tank, Gerhard lifting her by her arms as Riko and Ami Igarashi, the radio operator, supporting her legs. Finally, Miyako Uchiyama, the loader, exited the disabled Tiger and assisted the rest of her crew and Gerhard in laying her on the ground. Riko said something to Gerhard, apparently forgetting his handicap. Nicole, however, translated for him.

"They've got it. You're good." Nodding, the pilot walked back over to Maho, grabbed her by the shoulders, and to her surprise, pulled her into a hug. He muttered something in German, loud enough for Nicole to pick up. "Uhh, removing the curses, he says you're lucky to be alive and that he won't be going anywhere again if this happens when he leaves."

Maho nodded, still unsure of how to respond to Gerhard as he pulled back. She looked over at Nicole, who had a smirk on her face. "What?"

"Nothing." she said as she climbed back into her tank. "We should move out before they come back with reinforcements."

"Good idea." Maho replied, ignoring the German-American's smirk. She felt she knew what it was about, and was more focused on taking care of current problems. "Haruka-san, are you okay?"

" _Hai_." the raven-haired driver responded, giving a thumbs-up. She stood and, along with the rest of the Tiger's crew, climbed back into the tank. Gerhard clambered onto the engine deck and steadied himself against the turret, a gun of some sort in hand. If Maho was correct, it belonged to the German MP series. As for the rifle slung across his back, she had no clue what it was.

Jumping back into the Tiger, Maho put the radio set back on, opening up the radio waves. "All Kuromorimine tanks, this is Maho. Regroup at the First _Panzertruppe_ staging area and dig in. We will be there in a few hours at the most." As scattered replies filtered through the headset, Maho stuck her top half out of the commander's hatch, looking back at the German fighter pilot before scanning the area around the tank. ' _That's twice he's helped bail us out of trouble_.' she thought. ' _And we still don't know why he's helping us. I doubt even he knows._ '

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Hans Neumann**

 **6th Panzer Division, XLVIII** _ **Panzerkorps**_

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **German-Held Airfield, Main Gate**

 **1235 hours**

The commander of the Tiger smiled at Sven's remark about certain Soviet troops as the driver messed with the driving sticks, pitching the heavy tank about.

"Remember Hans, if they're charging anything, and especially a Tiger, it's usually because they've been ordered, not because they just want to."

" _Ja._ " Ewald replied, looking around the tank. "The only time they do something like that of their free will is when they think they'll get the Order of Lenin or something." The crew chuckled again as Hans shook his head and opened the hatch of the Tiger to get a better view as they left the gates of the airfield behind them.

The Soviet attack had been successfully repelled, though the cost, for both sides, was high, as most engagements on the Eastern Front were. There was a reason they said the Iron Cross was easier to get here than a pair of fresh socks.

Thoughts aside, however, Hans motioned with his arm to the other tanks to his rear. At the signal, ten Panzer IVs of assorted types branched off to the northeast, their objective to hunt down the _Katyusha_ launchers that had wreaked havoc on the airstrips during the attack. Meanwhile, Hans's 6-strong _Tigergruppe_ , supported by multiple smaller tanks, was heading due south to engage any Soviet forces they could find. ' _Find them and crush them before they regroup._ '

Hans opened up radio communications. "All units, good luck, and destroy any Soviet you come across, whether on foot, in the air, or in a tank! Show them that the _Führer'_ s panzers are undefeated! Push forward!"

" _Jawhol, herr!_ "

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! I put the English translations of phrases Gerhard said down below so you don't have to go searching. Anyway, please review if you would like to say anything, and I don't mind you hitting the follow button either! Anyway, 'til next time!**

 **P.S.-If you review, guess who my favorite character from the movie is and you get a grand prize of...something. I don't know.**

 **KTA334, signing off!**

 _ **Gott, solltest du besser nicht tot sein.-**_ **God, you'd better not be dead.**

 **Mien Gott, sie Angst die Scheisse outta mich.- My God, you scared the shit out of me.**


	13. Chapter XII: Baptism By Fire

**Well, sorry it took a bit longer than I thought it would, but here's Chapter XII, my longest yet.**

 **Also, it's been a long time coming: a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited (is that a word?) Cold Steel so far! I'm glad you are enjoying it and hope I continue to fulfill your expectations.**

 **On with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter XII: Baptism by Fire**

" _We did not intend to fight...but we took up the fight. ...We shall win or die._ "

-Admiral Gunther Lutjens, Commander of the _KMS Bismarck_ at

Operation _Rheinubung_

 _ **Hauptmann**_ **Hans Neumann**

 **6th Panzer Division, XLVIII** _ **Panzerkorps**_

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **5,5 kilometres SW of Airfield Main Gate**

 **1 January 2024**

 **1421 hours**

Hans looked up at the portion of the _Panzerabteilung_ that had stayed with him and his Tigers, rather impressed at the amount of armor he still had with him; besides the six Tigers, there were also close to fifteen Panzer IVs of various types, as well as ten or so Panzer III Ls. The Soviets would have little chance against this force, unless all of their scattered forces had managed to regroup and were digging in.

' _Still, that's unlikely_.' the old German tanker thought to himself as he ducked into the cover of the Tiger's turret. Inside, the engine roared as the machine gun ammunition clinked and rattled whenever the Tiger lurched over a particularly rough patch of ground. Looking at his shoulder, he played with the new patch he had received in his field promotion to captain. Apparently, because of his ability to command a large force that well under pressure, the command had felt that he deserved the new rank. ' _To be honest,_ Hauptmann _Neumann has a nice ring to it._ '

Taking the radio from Adolf, Hans opened up the platoon channel. "All units, keep and eye out for enemy ambushes. We don't know if the Soviets had some kind of secondary battle plan or how well they were prepared. They are far behind enemy lines, though, so it should take little effort to crush them."

As the _Tigergruppe_ commander returned the radio to Adolf, Sven spoke up from his position beneath the Tiger's fearsome 8,8-centimetre _KwK 36 L/56._ " _Kommandant_ , how far south do you think we have to go?"

"Reconnaissance aircraft reported seeing a concentration of Soviet armor in an abandoned collection of buildings, so-"

" _Enemy tanks up ahead! T-34/1941s and 57s!_ "

The alert through the radio caused Hans to look through the viewports around the cupola. "Adolf, tell all panzers to stop."

The order was given and the force of tanks ground to a halt. Rising up out of the hatch, Hans looked through his binoculars at the group of stationary T-34s. As he observed, a flash of light alerted him to the fact that the tanks were firing.

' _PING!'_

The first shot bounced off the hull of a Tiger in the front of the group, followed by the others either overshooting or falling short. Hans' eyes watched the bounced shot spiral through the air and hit the ground, kicking up a small cloud of powdered snow.

" _Herr_ , enemies at one thousand, two hundred metres." Ewald declared. "Permission to engage?"

"Negative." the commander said. "Adolf, tell the other Tiger commanders to go to the front of the formation. Sven, us as well." The six heavy tanks formed a line and moved to the front of the column before stopping. Hans heard the whirring of mechanics as the Tigers' electronic gears moved each ones' turret.

"All Tigers, range the enemy." Calls were made as each tank's gunner found the range to the T-34s, each of which were nicely silhouetted against the sky due to their elevation. Another volley of shots came in, again doing no damage.

"All Tigers report their targets sighted in and are requesting permission to fire."

"Fire at will."

The echo of six cannons echoed through the cold air as the group of German heavies fired, their ordnance slicing through the air towards the T-34s. Below him, Hans heard the spent shell casing being ejected from the breech and Johann loading in the next round. He watched as the rounds impacted their targets, eliminating three of the four tanks. Another volley obliterated the survivor, sending it up in an eruption of flames and exploding ammunition.

"Enemy force eliminated, sir." Ewald confirmed, pulling away from his sights. "The way ahead is clear."

"Very well. _Tigergruppe,_ good work." Hans received some acknowledgements from his fellow Tiger commanders as he checked the rest of the area around them. All was clear.

" _Panzergruppe_ , _voraus!_ "

* * *

 **Klara**

 **Pravda Girls High School**

 **Pravda Second Tank Corps**

 **T-34/85**

 **Train Depot**

 **9,32 kilometres Due South of Airfield Main Gates**

 **1435 hours**

Klara hummed the Pravda Tankery Team's song as she watched the fire in front of her flare up and slowly flicker back down to it's original height. Looking around her, the members of her crew were rather relaxed. Ever since the incident at the old military base, things had been fairly quiet for the Pravda team, even though they had split up.

The young blonde stood up and walked over to her T-34/85 and checked to make sure the engine was still running well. The T-34's engine, despite being prepared for cold weather fighting, was still being a little stubborn. She figured the especially cold weather had something to do with it.

In fact, most of the tanks were. All around the railroad tracks, the Pravda T-34s were being periodically run to prevent the oil from thickening up in the lines. Checking the oil pressure, Klara confirmed that the engine was doing well enough for itself. ' _Eto khorosho._ ' she thought to herself.

Climbing out and down from the tank, Klara stretched her legs out a little. Switching her mind back over to Japanese, Klara called out to her compatriots around her. "Let's keep building the defences like we've been ordered. Fumika!"

" _Hai!_ "

"Take four of the Model 1943s and head up to the treeline with the other tank destroyers." Klara ordered, motioning to the treeline that commanded a view of the general area. With a nod of her head, the commander of the ISU-152-2 gathered her crew and began shouting to the crews around her. One by one, engines started up and/or revved as the selected group, consisting of the ISU, four SU-85s, and four T-34/1943s, went to their ordered position.

Satisfied with the new positioning of the tank destroyers, Klara turned back to the rest of the Second Tank Corps of Pravda High, where each of the remaining tank crews were constructing their defences.

' _If they can be called that_.' The 'defences' were little more than snow piled higher than usual, and in some cases, on top of some of the tanks. The packed snow might stop one or two AP shells, but little else. The main defence of the Second Tank Corps lied in the element of surprise and camouflage.

A cold breeze sent a shiver through Klara, causing her to draw her coat tighter around her. Looking up into the sky, she noted the cloud cover was about to hide the sunlight, taking away what little warmth it was providing. Expecting that, Klara walked back over to her team's fire and put another log into the flames to increase its duration.

Sighing, she sat back down and looked around the fireplace. "Any luck, Sayumi?"

Sayumi Matsushita, the driver of the T-34, turned off her phone and hid it in her uniform. "None yet. I can't get any signal. I think the cell towers might be down." Klara nodded in agreement and checked her phone as well, only to find her service nonexistent as well.

"Well, hopefully they'll be fixed soon." she said. Sayumi hummed in acknowledgement and stood. "I'll be right back."

The driver walked off, leaving Klara without anyone to talk to. Sachie Ishikawa and Nao Hashimoto, loader and gunner respectively, were both asleep on each other's shoulders, catching what sleep they could. As for her radio operator, Rina Fujita, Klara remembered she was helping another crew fix a damaged suspension in another part of the defenses. The blonde leaned back and relaxed, enjoying the peace and relative quiet for a bit.

"Commander!"

Klara opened her eyes and sat up as multiple calls for her sounded. She stood and ran to where a group was starting to gather. Upon seeing her, a few of the Pravda tankers pointed out over the ridge, into the valley.

Looking out, Klara saw a small, quick tank approaching them. It looked familiar, but she couldn't immediately identify it at this range. "Binoculars."

A pair were passed up and into Klara's hand. She looked through them to the vehicle. She recognised the Pravda symbol on the side of the turret as it drifted down a slope, as well as the historical winter camouflage it was painted in. "It's Eiko." she stated as the BT-7 finally started coming up the slope of the ridge the Second Tank Corps occupied.

After a few more minutes, the cavalry tank pulled up next to the group, which, aside from a few who were asleep, doing repairs, or simply uninterested, contained the whole of the tank crews dug in here. The turret hatch of the tank squeaked open and Eiko poked her head pop out. "What is it, Eiko?" someone asked.

Looking directly at Klara, the commander of the BT-7 stated "German tanks are coming towards us, about thirty of them."

"Are you sure it isn't Kuromorimine?"

Eiko nodded firmly. "They have more Panzer IVs and IIIs than the Kuromorimine team can possibly can possibly field. Also, they have the regular _balkenkreuz_ on their turrets."

Klara's eyebrows went up in surprise. "How close were you for you to identify that?"

Eiko repeated the question into the cabin of her tank, and after a pause, responded. "A little under one hundred and fifty metres."

Klara shook her head. "Be careful next time." Turning to the group of girls around her, she yelled out in her best command voice. "Pravda Second Tank Corps! We are about to come under attack! Get in your tanks and prepare to show them what we are capable of!"

" _URA!_ "

As the girls scrambled and began to wake up and prepare for the upcoming fight, Klara turned back to Eiko. "Head south and give Katyusha news of our plight. Tell them to send reinforcements if they can."

" _Hai."_ Eiko responded. "Good luck, commander." She shut the hatch of the BT and immediately the tank started accelerating, the engine roaring as it propelled the light cavalry tank forward. After brushing the snow off of her, Klara returned to her T-34/85. Everyone was already in the tank, and Sachie waved to her, the 14-year old smiling widely. Klara hauled herself up onto the tank, and then jumped into the turret, taking her place as she opened up the radio and closed the hatch. "Fumika, come in."

"Here." the ISU commander replied quickly.

"Are the tank destroyers set up?" Klara questioned.

"Almost. Eriko and Yoshiko are still putting the camouflage net over our tank, but otherwise, we're ready and dialed in."

"Good." Klara commented. "Hurry up. Enemy tanks are approaching us. Don't fire until I give the command."

"Got it!"

Klara turned the dial and repeated the order to the rest of the tanks under her command, and added on "Also, turn off your engines and stay quiet. Our patience and stealth is our strength." The engine of the T-34/85 went silent and the belly of the tank became deathly still as the five young girls, along with their comrades, awaited the coming storm.

* * *

 _ **Hauptmann**_ **Hans Neumann**

 **6th Panzer Division, XLVIII** _ **Panzerkorps**_

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **7,3 kilometres South of German-held Airfield**

 **1619 hours**

"Commander!"

Hans looked down to see Adolf with one piece of the radio pressed to his ear. "What is it?"

"The panzers that went after the enemy Katyushas are linking up with us. They say they managed to eliminate at least half of the enemy force, if not more."

"Commend them on a job well done, and have them fall in on our flanks." the commander responded. The order was relayed as Hans opened up the hatch of the Tiger and looked around.

As Adolf had said, ten extra Panzer IVs, namely the F1 and 2 models, joined in the formation, taking up positions on the flanks of the formation. With those ten tanks, the effectiveness of the force under Hans' command had been greatly increased.

The now 40-tank force continued south steadily, keeping an eye out for the enemy as they rolled on. Out of the corner of his eye, Hans suddenly saw a collection of buildings in the distance. Taking a closer look, he saw that it was the remains of a old train depot. ' _Don't recall seeing that ever before_.' Hans thought. Curious, he decided it was worth a look. Anyways, it would be a good spot to launch an attack on the airfield; it would not make sense to leave it unchecked.

" _Panzergruppe,_ continue following us. We are going to investigate the depot to the east." Hans released the radio and ignored the replies from other crews. "Sven, left turn now."

" _Jawohl._ " The driver turned the Tiger in a wide, slow arc, allowing the formation to follow without losing the order of the tanks. In about another half-minute, Sven straightened out the Tiger's course, followed shortly by the rest of the _Panzergruppe_.

Hans inhaled sharply as the armored battlegroup continued on. Even as worn and weary as these men were due to the fierce fighting around Stalingrad, they still kept the pride of both the XLVIII _Panzerkorps_ and the Fatherland intact. Anyone that could see them would be impressed at the discipline that was being displayed.

Suddenly, Hans saw movement to his right. Pressing his binoculars to his eyes, he recognised the tank as a BT-7, swiftly moving across the snowpack to the south. As he watched, it disappeared behind a stand of trees, leaving no other sign of its existence other than a cloud of powdery snow that quickly settled.

" _Kommandant_ , Tiger 162 spotted an enemy scout moving south…"

"I saw it, Adolf." the Tiger commander said into the tank cabin. "Don't worry about it. They're already gone." He climbed back down and grabbed his gloves from the top of the radio, putting them on and clenching and unclenching his hands in an effort to warm them up.

"You aren't worried sir?"Ewald asked, looking up from his meal. Both he and Johann had started eating after the _Panzergruppe_ eliminated the T-34 battlegroup, doing their best to fill their stomachs before the next engagement.

"Of course not." Hans replied, grinning at his gunner. "We have six Tigers and backup. We could take on the whole of the Red Army from here to the Pacific Ocean if we had the ammunition."

The crew of the Tiger chuckled at their commander's words. "The thing is, if it weren't for those KV-2s, and we actually DID have no limit on fuel or ammunition, we probably could." Johann said before stuffing the last amount of the canned rations into his mouth. As the others shook their heads at the young loader's behavior, Hans suddenly started feeling uneasy.

Returning to his position halfway out of the turret, the greying tank commander scanned the area carefully. The _Panzergruppe_ started downhill into a valley, increasing the amount of uneasiness Hans felt. "All panzers, _halt_!"

Forty tanks came to an abrupt halt as the commander continued to scrutinise the landscape. He heard the squeaking of hinges as other commanders opened their hatches and joined in the search. The wind died down, leaving the sky eerily calm, save for the roar of the tank engines.

' _BOOOOM!_ '

" _In deckung!_ "

Before Hans could even duck back into cover, a Panzer IV to his left erupted, the turret seeming to eject from the chassis and fly at least ten metres into the air. The chassis itself shifted sideways from the force of the explosion as metal screeched and wrenched.

' _Gut Gott, was war das?_ ' Hans thought as heat washed over him. He stood, transfixed by the sight of the burning tank, before he was pulled down into the turret of the Tiger. " _Kommandant!_ "

Hans returned to reality to find Johann looking at him. "I'm fine. Adolf!"

"No survivors, sir." the radio operator replied solemnly. "What was that?"

"Never mind for now." Hans replied, shutting the turret of the Tiger and locking it. " _Panzergruppe_ , into the valley, now!"

The company of armor began moving forward at full speed, trying their best to get under the enemy guns before the massive cannon, whatever it was, fired again. Suddenly, Hans saw a series of flashes from positions on the ridge above them, shortly followed by the whistling of shells over the turret of the Tiger.

"Sir, _Leutnant_ Holtzmann's panzer was hit!" Hans looked around for the aforementioned tank through the cupola viewports and saw a Panzer III moving slowly. As he watched, it stopped and the engine caught fire. All four crew members bailed out of the tank, quickly hitching a ride with another Panzer III. Other than that, it appeared the other 38 tanks successfully reached safety. Once safe from the enemy guns, Hans opened up the radio.

"It appears the enemy was expecting us to counterattack." Hans started. "Panzer IIIs!"

" _Jawohl, herr!_ " Reinhard Kaufmann, the commander of the detachment of light tanks, responded firmly.

"Take six of your tanks. When we engage, go find that gun that destroyed _Oberleutnant_ Koch's tank. Flank the enemy force and find them!"

"Yes sir!"

"Tigers, we will spearhead the main attack. I want ten of the Panzer IVs with us. The other Panzer IIIs and IVs are to work your way around the right flank and attack the enemy from the side while we draw fire."

" _Jawohl, Hauptmann!_ " With confirmation from the other mentioned groups, Hans looked around him to see his friendly tanks moving into their groups.

" _Tigergruppe, voraus!_ "

Sven gunned the engine and the six Tigers, accompanied by their escorts, began rolling up the slope of the ridge, their engines roaring as they moved up. "Adolf! Get me the airfield." The driver nodded and flipped through the radio waves, then nodded his head when his task was done. Hans opened up the radio and began talking.

"Airfield command, this is _Hauptmann_ Neumann, come in, over."

"This is command. What is it, over?"

Looking first at his map, Hans continued his report. "We've run into an enemy force of unknown size about nine and a half kilometres south of the airfield, near an old train depot. They have a large-calibre weapon of some sort and we are currently unable to locate it. Requesting a series of airstrikes in the area, over."

There was a pause as the radioman presumably contacted the appropriate people to authorise the airstrike. "We can only provide a single _Stuka_ strike, and it will take some twenty minutes before they're in the air. They are still rearming, repairing, and refueling, over."

"We'll take it." Hans replied. "How are we to mark the target area?"

"Red smoke. I will relay the information to the air crews. Good luck out there, _hauptmann._ Command, out." The radio went silent and Hans motioned for Adolf to switch it back to the company radio channel.

"Main attack force, we will have air support soon. Let us show these Soviet scum what the _Panzerkorps_ is capable of until then. _Angriff!_ "

* * *

 **Klara**

 **Pravda Girls High School**

 **Pravda Second Tank Corps**

 **T-34/85**

 **Train Depot**

 **9,32 kilometres Due South of Airfield Main Gates**

 **1723 hours**

The cabin of the T-34/85 remained still as Klara watched for any signs of movement. Over the ridge, the roar of German-built engine roared and tracks squealed as the attack force climbed the hill. Suddenly, there was a light thudding below her, and she looked down to find the source.

"Nao."

" _Hai_?" the young girl responded, looking up. The look on her face showed how much her nerves were bothering her. And, if one didn't see that, it was made obvious by the constant tapping of her foot against the steel floor of the tank.

"Please stop." Klara said, motioning to her friend's leg. She nodded and ceased the tapping, leaving the cabin silent once more.

' _Bog pomozhet nam zashchitit' vsekh nas, i pozvol'te nam vernut'sya domoy v usloviyakh bezopasnosti._ ' the young girl prayed in Russian, hoping for some extra protection of any sort. She remembered what she and Nonna had spoken about earlier, in hushed, silent tones away from the main gathering of girls at the military base.

" _What is it?" Klara asked, waiting to hear what her best friend had to say. As normal, they were both speaking in Russian, though Nonna had insisted that this conversation not stray outside of it._

" _About what's going on…" the raven-haired girl started, looking around warily. On instinct, Klara did as well. There was nothing in the vicinity._

" _Well, you know how the whole thing with the airplanes and the tanks and…"_

" _The Soviets and the Germans, you mean?" Klara interrupted, seeing her friend having trouble describing the situation. She couldn't blame her; it was still a difficult situation to even begin believing in._

"Da." _Nonna responded. "I have a very bad feeling about it all. Like...well, I know that, eventually, some of us are going to be killed if we don't get out of this soon."_

 _Klara's eyebrows went up. "I hadn't been thinking about that." she said, taking the new information rather calmly. "It makes sense. I mean, Germans and Russians, and Kuromorimine is driving German tanks and we're driving Soviet ones. It's only a matter of time."_

" _You can be so annoyingly clear-minded sometimes, Klara." Nonna complained playfully, allowing a small smile to grace her face. It was quickly hidden again, however, by the grim look that had been there before. "But, you're right, and that scares me. Katyusha too."_

" _I'd imagine." Klara said. "What do you think about Maho's position?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Well, they have that German pilot with them." Klara pointed out. "He could give them information and help them out."_

" _True." Nonna said. Just before she said anything else, however, the sound of an anti-tank cannon echoed through the clearing, followed shortly by screams and what Klara assumed to be small-arms fire._

Klara shook her head and returned her focus to the ridgeline in front of her. The tension in the air was thick, and Klara could only imagine what the other teams were feeling. As for whether or not Eiko had made it to Katyusha's company, she had no clue. She could only hope reinforcements were on the way.

"Commander!" Rina said, making Klara jump at the sudden noise. "There!"

"I see them. Nao!"

" _Hai!_ " The gunner shifted her aim to sight the turret of the first tank coming over the ridge, a Tiger I. "Range to targets, one hundred twenty-three metres!" The turret shifted slightly as she made minute measurements to her aim. "Ready to fire!"

" _Snimayte!_ "

The interior of the T-34/85's turret filled with smoke and the smell of cordite as the cannon boomed. Klara watched as the shell made its way to the target, the armor-piercing tracer round slicing through the air. Much to the surprise of the crew, however, the 85mm shell ricocheted off the sloped part of the turret roof of the Tiger. Then, a hailstorm of cannon fire descended on the German heavy from the other Pravda mediums.

"It's no good." Rina said as she watched through her viewport. "Only the eighty-five millimetre guns can penetrate that armor, even from this range."

"I know." Klara said as the cannon boomed again. The German tank, now wary, pulled back, just in time to bounce the next shell off of its turret again. Then, another five Tiger Is came over the ridge, accompanied by their supporting tanks. There were only some Panzer IVs with them, however.

"Sayumi, weren't there Panzer IIIs there earlier?" Klara asked as Nao fired the gun again. This time, the shell hit a Panzer IV, causing it to suddenly skid sideways as the track broke. The crew bailed out of the tank and appeared to retreat back behind the ridgeline.

"Yes, there were." the driver stated. "I don't know-"

"There!"

Klara looked to where Rina was pointing to see six Panzer III Ls barrelling across the snow. It looked like they were headed to the treeline, where the tank destroyers were hiding. ' _I shouldn't have put them in such an obvious spot._ ' "Rina, alert Fumika to the threat. Tell them to deal with it first."

"Got it." the radio operator replied. "Kurumi reports that there's a congitent of Panzer IVs and IIIs on our left flank as well. We're being surrounded!"

Klara watched through her viewport as one of the Tigers turned its turret towards them. A million thoughts went through her head even as Nao tried to traverse the turret to meet the threat. ' _I'm sorry, Katyusha_.'

' _Bu-BOOOOM!'_

Suddenly, the Tiger erupted in a massive explosion, obviously hit by Fumika's BL-10 cannon. The crew of the T-34/85 paused for a moment as they exhaled all at once. The other tanks, apparently discouraged, retreated behind the hill, but stopped just a little out of sight. One tank fired a shell, which began spewing red smoke; an attempt to cover their forces, Klara assumed.

"Thank you Fumika." Klara said through the radio. "All Pravda tanks, report." One by one, the tanks of the Second Tank Corps reported in. It appeared that, at least for now, the attackers had been repelled. She took another deep breath, still a little jumpy after staring down the barrel of a Tiger.

"We owe her our lives now." Sayumi mentioned quietly. The others all nodded in silent agreement. It had been too close.

"This is no place for us." Klara said, opening the radio. "Pravda Second Tank Corps: retreat to the treeline. We will meet up with the main force once we manage to break contact."

Affirmative replies came through the radio as the T-34/85 came alive with the sound of the engine starting up. Suddenly, a strangely familiar sound started up.

"Are those…"

" _Stukas!_ "

* * *

 **Katyusha**

 **Pravda Girls High School**

 **Pravda First Guards Tank Corps**

 **T-34/85**

 **1700 hours**

"Ehhh!?" Katyusha said, looking at Eiko's serious face. Looking back at Nonna for confirmation she had heard right, Katyusha looked down at the ground, pondering her options.

"How many did you say there were?" the short blonde questioned the scout tank's commander.

"Forty when we first spotted them. I don't know if they were reinforced or how Klara's group has done since we left." Eiko replied. Katyusha nodded her thanks, then reached for her radio.

"Klara, are you there?" Katyusha released the button on the radio and waited for a response. Nothing but the sound of static was coming through the earpiece. "Klara!"

" _Da_?" the commander of the Second Tank Corps replied quietly. Katyusha sighed in relief before her temper got the better of her.

"Why didn't you answer the first time I called?! You scared me!"

" _Prostite._ " the blonde replied in Russian. "What is is you need?"

Katyusha grumbled under her breath, thinking about what she had originally meant to ask. "Oh, right. What is your situation?"

"We have an enemy force approaching us, approximately forty tanks. Did Eiko get back to you?"

" _Hai_. She's right here." Katyusha said, looking at the aforementioned girl. "She said you requested reinforcements."

"That's true." Klara said in return. There was some talking in the background, followed by Klara responding. "Sayumi told me to point out that only the eighty-five and one hundred fifty-two millimetre guns can penetrate the Tigers from normal range, and the 1943s can't even at point blank range."

Katyusha looked around at the tanks with her; the First Guards Corps had most of the T-34/85s, though it was only 6, including hers and Nonna's. They had the IS-2 and KV-2, though, as well as the lone Pravda Su-100. Other than that, there were only T-34/1943s. "We'll come and help you. What is your position?"

" _Spasibo, komandir_." Klara said. "We are about two kilometres southwest from the old train depot, dug in and ready to repel the attack. I don't know how long we can hold though."

" _Prosto sdelay luchshiye, chto vy mozhete …_ " Katyusha's discontent went up further as Nonna spoke to Klara. She hated not knowing what those two were saying.

"Nonnaaaaa…" Katyusha complained, blowing out her cheeks. Nonna smiled gently and said one more thing in Russian before getting off the radio.

"Sorry, Katyusha. Shall we go now?" The Pravda commander nodded and waved her arm to signal that the First Guards Corps would be moving out. Within the next ten minutes, the vanguard of the Pravda tankery team was on its way north.

Katyusha kept a close eye out as the sounds of distant combat echoed through the cold air. Up in front, Nonna had taken the position of gunner in the IS-2, where she would be able to give support fire to Klara's detachment as soon as they came into view.

Ducking back into the tank, Katyusha looked to her gunner. "Hinata, what's our range?"

Hinata Yoshida, Katyusha's trusted gunner, looked up from the gunsights. "Our maximum range is two thousand metres. However, our _effective_ maximum range is only half that, and even then, it's chancy on penetrating the front of a Tiger."

"Mmmm…" Katyusha hummed. "What about a Tiger?"

"Two thousand metres." Hinata said, without hesitation. Katyusha laughed slightly, sure that was not the effective range.

"I mean, what is it's effective range?" the short commander asked, wanting to get the information. She knew she should have studied more often, but Katyusha figured it would be better to learn on the job.

"That is it's effective range, commander." Tomoko said from the radio operator's seat. "I think it's maximum range was about four thousand."

Katyusha's jaw dropped at Tomoko's statement. ' _Four kilometres of range?!_ ' That would be like hitting parts of Abashiri from the training grounds. She shook her head clear of thoughts; after all, even spotting something at that range would be extremely hard, let alone hitting it.

"Katyusha, we're entering the combat zone." Miyu Minami, the commander of the IS-2 reported. "We've spotted multiple vehicles, both ours and the enemy."

Picking up her radio and focusing her mind, Katyusha opened the hatch of the T-34/85 and looked outside. As Miyu had said, the Pravda Second Tank Corps was up ahead, firing at the forms of German tanks. "Pravda First Guards, permission to fire granted!"

Immediately, the gun on the IS-2 fired, obliterating a Panzer IV. Two more fired, one falling short, the other hitting one of the Tigers and immobilising it. Katyusha played with the dial on her radio, tuning back into Klara's channel. "Klara, are you still there?"

" _Da._ " Klara replied, her voice slightly static through the radio. "Where are you?"

"We're coming in from the south." Katyusha informed. "Nonna is already engaging the Tigers. Where are the rest of them?"

"We're surrounded." Klara said. In the background, a cannon fired, followed by the shouting of the crew as they sighted in another target. "I've ordered us to break out and retreat to you. The enemy is being cautious right now, and have fired smoke shells to give themselves cover."

Katyusha looked up to see red smoke in between the visible German tanks and Klara's, confirming what she had said. "Okay. We'll be covering you. Get back here quickly!"

" _Da, komandir!_ " The radio cut short as Klara got off. In the distance, Katyusha saw T-34s start moving around, forming up into small groups and departing. Satisfied, she went back into the cover of the tank. "Tomoko, tell our group to stop and form a firing line. We'll cover Klara's group as they fall back to us."

" _Hai._ "

"Commander!"

"What, Hana!?" Katyusha shouted. She'd been about to say something, and suddenly forgot what it was. "I was-"

"Look!"

Grumbling as she exited the turret yet again, the short commander looked in the direction Hana was pointing. Even as the fear-inducing _Jerichotrommel_ began to whine, Katyusha grabbed the radio, hoping against hope as bombs started screaming.

"KLARA!"

* * *

 **Sorry about the cliffhanger. I'll try not to be too long in telling you what happens next.**


	14. Chapter XIII: Casualties of War

****Heya guys...****

 ** **If you saw my author's note last week, then you already heard some of this. If not, well, quick word...****

 ** **My sister just left the house unannounced and basically dumped all of her chores on me; combine that with the fact I just started my final year of schooling and have work almost every weekend, I've been busy as hell. I am seriously sorry, both for missing the date I set for this month's update and for making you wait so long with no word.****

 ** **Anyhow, here's this chapter...not as long as the others, but I hope it will tide you over for now and get you ready for future events.****

 ** **Also, if there's a problem with some of the line breaks showing, I don't know why...Fanfic's editor is being a pain in the arse.****

* * *

 ** **Chapter XIII: Causalties of War****

" _Into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell._ "

-Lord Alfred Tennyson

 ** **Klara****

 ** **Pravda Girls High School****

 ** **Pravda Second Tank Corps****

 ** **T-34/85****

 ** **9,32 kilometres Due South of Airfield Main Gates****

 ** **1 January 2024****

 ** **1754 hours****

"Klara!"

Klara opened her eyes as she felt her shoulder being shaken violently. "Commander!"

Suddenly remembering what had just happened, Klara sat up as best she could and looked around the belly of the T-34. Sayumi was trying to revive the other three girls, who had apparently also been knocked out by the blast of the bombs.

As for the tank itself, it looked like it had faced off against all of Kuromorimine by itself. The engine was silent, spewing smoke and threatening to catch fire. The radio was sparking every now and then, and, from the smell of it, one of the fuel tanks had ruptured from the shock. "Sayumi…"

"I know." the driver said. "We need to leave." Sachie and Nao both came to, followed shortly by Rina, who jumped when she saw the condition of the radio. Just outside, the sounds of gunfire still rang out as tank treads squealed nearby.

' _The reinforced compartment must have taken most of the damage._ ' Klara noted. Pieces of the hull were scattered among the floor of the tank, evidence of spalling. It was a miracle that none of them had injuries more serious than some cuts and scrapes. "Let's go." the blonde commanded.

Opening up her hatch, Klara stopped for a second, frozen by the scene around her. Three of her tanks were knocked on their sides or completely flipped, and another two lay derelict. Each of them had their crews struggling to get out and escape from the battle as the German tanks drove through the remains of the Second Tank Corps' defensive line. As she watched, a Tiger fired, sending one of the T-34/1943s up in flames.

' _Moj Bog, chto my sdelali, chtoby zasluziti' etogo?_ ' Klara thought as the T-34s ammo cooked off. There would be no survivors from that shot, she realised.

Choking back a sob, Klara yelled as loud as she could. "Second Corps, escape at all costs!" A volley from Katyusha's tanks came in, but did minimal damage, only destroying a single Panzer IV. ' _They're too far away._ '

"Klara!"

The blonde looked at Sayumi, who motioned to the nearby treeline, where the girls who were on foot were running to for cover. Meanwhile, the surviving tanks were putting distance between themselves and the German tanks. Making it to the treeline, Klara and her crew, along with the rest of the girls, moved deep into the trees to hide as the German armour kept pushing straight through the shattered defences.

* * *

 ** _ **Hauptmann**_** ** **Hans Neumann****

 ** **6th Panzer Division, XLVIII**** ** _ **Panzerkorps**_**

 ** **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'****

 ** **9,35 kilometres SW of Airfield Main Gate****

 ** **1802 hours****

Hans looked around him at the multitude of burning tanks his men were leaving behind. All around them, the crews of the Soviet tanks were scattering; unless his eyes were deceiving him, almost all of the figures were young women. _Well, that explains where all of the Soviet's women went_.

"All units, continue your charge! Ignore the ones on foot; we will catch them later." The Tiger continued moving, firing a shot that went over the targeted T-34. The tank disappeared below an incline, concealing it from view.

"Push on! Don't let-"

The commander of the _Tigergruppe_ stopped short as his tank took three successive hits, all thankfully bouncing off. Hans looked to where the shots had come from, and saw the unmistakable shape of a KV-2, the turret facing them. "Sven, back!"

The driver asked no questions, halting the Tiger and throwing it into reverse. The massive 152-millimetre shell sailed over the Tiger, instead landing on the hull of a Panzer III and completely destroying it. Another large, higher-velocity shell whistled by, flying harmlessly into the trees behind them.

" _Schiesse_." Hans said. " _Panzergruppe,_ retreat!"

The mass of tanks retreated back to safety, hiding out of sight of the Soviet armour and the deadly 152-millimetre cannon with them. Hans took a moment to pause, surveying the situation. ' _If we go after the crews on foot, we'll be exposed to fire on our flank long before we get in the trees...but, if we attack the armor, we have to face off against their entire force, and won't be able to retreat.'_

Hans felt the eyes of his crew on him as he sat there, trying to decide. He knew the longer they sat there, the more likely it would be for the Russians to come over the ridge and attack them.

"Adolf-"

"Yes sir!?" the radioman responded promptly. He looked like he had a few questions, but knew better than to voice them now.

"Tell the _panzergruppe_ to retreat north to where we contacted the first T-34s. We'll wait for reinforcements there and continue our assault later."

" _Jawhol, herr!_ " Adolf dutifully carried out his task as Sven turned the tank around, leading the retreat back. They had limited resources right now...Hans didn't want to overextend his forces and get cut off.

The German tanks quickly left their hiding spot and swiftly retreated north, leaving behind them the burning hulks and desolate wrecks of Pravda's Second Tank Corps.

* * *

 ** _ **Oberleutnant**_** ** **Gerhard Köln****

 ** **POW**** ** _ **, Luftwaffe**_** ** **, Tatsinskaya Detachment****

 ** **2,1 kilometres from Abandoned Military Base****

 ** **2103 hours****

Gerhard shifted his weight and drew his borrowed trench coat around him. The thick wool was successfully staving off the cold air; he heard from Nicole that the temperature had dropped to ten degrees below, unusually cold for the area, even at this time of year. He wished he could start a fire, but doing so would be hypocritical. He had told Maho (or, rather, Nicole had) that any fires would only be inviting trouble at night.

Looking behind him, Gerhard observed the silent shapes of panzers sitting in the snow, their crews resting inside. A few of the older girls were also out, keeping watch.

The crunching of snow underfoot brought the pilot out of this thoughts. He watched as Maho sat down next to him on his rock, remaining silent as she looked out to the military base. " _Ikutsu ka no suimin o shutoku suru hitsuyō ga arimasu_."

Gerhard chuckled quietly, making random sketches with the butt of the Mosin. "I just started learning again, Maho. Give me some time." A cold gust blew up, bringing with it a fresh snowfall. Gerhard's scribbles in the snow quickly disappeared as snow started to fill in the lines.

Maho smiled faintly as she shivered. For some reason, unknown to him, the girls still wore their skirts and thin shirts. "You're getting better. Nicole's a good teacher."

Gerhard nodded in agreement as he took off the trench coat and wrapped it around Maho. She looked surprised, then accepted it and watched as the pilot dug out his pilot's coat; though not as thick as the Soviet sniper's coat, it would still keep the cold at bay. He sat back down and together, the two simply watched the snow fall. The night grew silent, save for the occasional howl of wind in the distance.

Some time later, long after Maho had decided to use his shoulder as a pillow, Gerhard saw movement in the distance. He gently pushed Maho off his shoulder and stood, trading the rifle for his MP40. As he watched, the shape turned into a tank-a BT-7 charging across the snow towards them, painted in the Pravda High School camouflage. Holding the submachine gun in one hand, Gerhard waved his arms as best he could, getting the driver's attention.

The BT-7 changed course, quickly closing the distance to the pilot. Less than ten metres away, the tank slid to a halt, covering the pilot with snow. The turret opened as Gerhard called Maho over, who had woken up with a start at the sudden noise.

* * *

 ** **Maho Nishizumi****

 ** **Kuromorimine Girls High School****

 ** **First**** ** _ **Panzertruppe**_**

 ** **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'****

 ** **2,1 kilometres from Abandoned Military Base****

 ** **2137 hours****

Maho rubbed her eyes as her mind started to process what was going on. Gerhard was standing in front of a Pravda BT-7 as the commander of the tank spoke rapid-fire Japanese; from the look on his face, he understood about five percent, maximum, of what the girl was saying. She noticed that the pilot's hands were on one of the weapons in his hand, held at the ready position.

"Hey!" she shouted, getting the attention of the two. They both turned to her as she started marching across the snow, holding Gerhard's trench coat around her. Finally trudging her way to the Lüftwaffe pilot's side, she looked up at the tank commander, a little annoyed that her sleep and time with Gerhard had been interrupted. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Eiko Tsuji, Nishizumi-sama." the girl replied. As her eyes started to fully focus, Maho recognised the look on Eiko's face as one of distress and worry. "There's been...Pravda's been…"

"What? Spit it out!" Maho said, a sinking feeling in her chest. When the young girl started tearing up, Maho knew that the worst had happened.

Turning to Gerhard, the Kuromorimine commander said in the simplest Japanese she could manage "Go get Nicole and tell her to get everyone moving." The pilot looked confused for a moments, then his eyes lit up as he finished translating. He turned on his heel and began running towards the Kuromorimine encampment, shouting to be heard. From the sound of it, the entirety of the Panzerkraft was only lightly sleeping, as the sound of starting engines echoed in the cold night and female voices joined Gerhard's.

Turning back to Eiko, Maho motioned for the girl to sit with her. She clambered out of the tank, followed shortly by the two other members of the BT-7's crew. They crossed the distance between them and Maho, and Eiko sat down where Gerhard had been. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, starting to tear up.

"What is it?" Maho said impatiently. While it may have been obvious as to what had happened, she wanted to know what the aftermath was. Looking up at the other two girls, Maho repeated the first question she had asked.

The girl on the left stepped up, looking very solemn. "Akiko Fuchigami, Nishizumi-san. I'm the driver." She bowed and stood back up, then moved to stand closer to Maho.

"We had taken up positions along the northwestern flank to prevent any of the German or Soviet forces from moving into Abashiri. We had split up into our respective Tank Corps units as normal." Maho nodded in agreement; she hadn't given thought as to what would happen if the armies, especially the Soviet one, had managed to get into the town. "Continue on."

Akiko nodded. "At about 1730, the Second Tank Corps's defensive line was attacked by German forces. We had already gone to alert the main force, and they were still holding out by the time that we got in visual range." Suddenly, Akiko's voice cracked and she too began to tear up. However, unlike her commander, she continued the tale.

"Right as we got into firing range for the IS-2 and KV-2, a flight of _Stukas_ came in and...they…" Akiko paused, looked down at the snow, and took a deep breath. After a few moments, she looked back up. Her eyes had dried, and a neutral look had replaced the one of despair.

"The _Stukas_ bombed the Second Corps' positions, causing the line to completely collapse." Maho zoned out for a moment, shocked by the news...she had expected something like the skirmish she had been in, when Gerhard had finally shown back up. The fact that the Pravda team had actually been bombed had to mean that there was more than just damage to the tanks.

Tuning back in to what Akiko was saying, Maho continued listening. "-escaped into the trees. Commander Katyusha ordered us to route the enemy, but they pulled back before we could do much more...so instead, we went to go inspect the damage…" Looking Maho in the eyes, the driver of the BT-7 shook her head with finality, confirming Maho's fears.

Almost in a whisper, the elder Nishizumi sister asked "How many?"

"Three." replied Eiko, cutting Akiko off before she could say anything else. The younger girl looked up, tears frozen on her cheeks and more coming out of her eyes. She took some more time to recompose herself before continuing. "My sister was outside her tank when the bombs hit...trying to fix the turret…" Finally overwhelmed, the commander of the BT-7 collapsed onto Maho's shoulder and began to openly sob, surprising the commander of the Kuromorimine Panzerkraft team. She hugged Eiko and looked up at the other two girls, feeling the pain they must've been, albeit not the same way they were.

"I'm so sorry." Maho said quietly, trying to put her feelings into those words. Even though she meant every bit of those three simple words, she knew that to those girls, and especially Eiko, that those were still hollow.

Grabbing Eiko's shoulders and sitting her up, she looked the young girl in the eyes and said "Take us to them. We'll see what we can do." The commander of the BT-7 dried her eyes and nodded, then stood. "Thank you very much, Nishizumi-sama." As Maho's tanks started moving up behind her, the BT-7 crew mounted up into their tank and started it up, waiting for the Kuromorimine team to finish mobilising.

Nicole pulled up beside Maho in her Panzer IV, with Gerhard on the engine deck. Behind the medium tank, Hisayo had taken the commander's spot in the Tiger as the rest of Kuromorimine came to a stop, waiting for their commander.

As the Tiger ground to a halt, Maho hauled herself up the side, her feet finding purchase on the small ledge on the deck around the turret. She nodded at her radio operator, who quickly disappeared back inside the hull of the German-built heavy. Taking her rightful spot as commander, she motioned for the BT-7 crew to lead the way as she opened up the radio and explained the situation.

* * *

 ** **Leading Private Takumi Yahagi****

 ** **Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force****

 ** **3rd Infantry Regiment (Motorised)****

 ** **2nd Infantry Division (Northern Army)****

 ** **JGSDF Field Encampment, Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan****

 ** **2149 hours****

"Our go date was delayed again. We'll be here for at least another week."

Takumi Yahagi, along with the other twelve men in the squad, groaned in annoyance as Lieutenant Okamura reported the commander's call for this week. There was a lot of resistance earlier on when the Abashiri police had requested their help, especially in the higher echelons of command. The 3rd Infantry Regiment had been camped outside Abashiri for the past few days, and the men were beginning to make the wait into a winter exercise.

"None of that." Lieutenant Okamura reprimanded. "You know it costs money for something like this...it can't be helped that command is being resistant. Anyhow, go on and get some rest. Be up at normal time tomorrow." The squad muttered affirmatives and trickled out of the tent into the cold night, quickly dispersing to their destinations, whether it be their tent, the kitchen, or the bonfire that hadn't been allowed to go out for fear of the camp losing it's only major heat source.

Takumi trudged to his tent and collapsed inside the small, one-man sheet of canvas. From where he was, he could see up the mountain to the Pravda High School training grounds through the flap, where they had been asked by the police to investigate.

The soldier simply grunted and turned over onto his side, quickly falling asleep as the wind outside howled through the air.

* * *

 **And there is Chapter XIII, at long last. Feel free to give me crap about the wait if you leave a review...I deserve it.**

 **Anyway, hopefully, I will see you soon. Always remember I keep my profile updated with news on my stories. Until next time, signing off.**

 **-KTA334**


	15. Chapter XIV: The Beginning of the End

**Cheers folks! Long time, no see, but here's Chapter Fourteen! And to be honest, I had trouble writing the ending as well as finding a good title and quote...so call me out on it if you feel the need to.**

 **Anyhow, on with the show! Story!**

* * *

 ** **Chapter XIV: Beginning of the End****

" _The enemy of my enemy is my friend."-_ Arabian Proverb

 ** _ **Oberleutnant**_** ** **Gerhard Köln****

 ** **POW,**** ** _ **Lüftwaffe,**_** ** **Tatsinskaya Detachment****

 ** **9,78 kilometres Due South of Airfield Main Gates****

 ** **2 January 2025****

 ** **0004 hours****

Gerhard bent his knees and grunted, gripping onto one of the bars holding the spaced armour on Nicole's Panzer IV to the turret as the tank plowed through a snowdrift, skidding slightly. The sudden jolt, in combination with the sudden gust of cold air, caused him to stop trying to fall asleep where he stood.

Looking behind him, the pilot nodded at Maho, who was leading the heavier Kuromorimine vehicles through the trenches in the snow created by the Panzer IVs and Panthers. Up ahead, the Pravda BT-7 was leading the way, the relatively light tank barely sinking into the snow.

' _This is all going to hell._ ' he thought to himself as he looked down at his MP40, checking the magazine to make sure it was loaded. Satisfied, he reinserted the stick magazine back into the submachine gun and looked up into the sky. Storm clouds were far off in the distance, and every now and then, a flash of light could be seen. Thankfully, the storm was far enough away that they couldn't hear the report of thunder following the electric discharge. Suddenly, he felt a slap on his wrist, snapping him out of his thoughts and bringing him back to the matter at hand. "What?!" he shouted at Nicole over the roar of engines.

The girl pointed into the distance, where the shape of some buildings was coming into view. As the Panzer IV jumped over a ridge, nearly throwing Gerhard off in the process, the BT-7 peeled off and disappeared into the forest. Just before the tank went into the trees, Gerhard saw the commander wave them towards the buildings. Nicole waved in response and said something into her headset. The Panzer sped up and jumped over another snowdrift, jolting Gerhard yet again and slamming him into the turret. Steadying himself again, the _Lüftwaffe_ pilot pushed himself back up and stood, rubbing his head.

"Sorry." Nicole said, looking back at him. "Are you good?" Gerhard waved her off and nodded. Other than being a little sore, he was fine. The dirty blonde looked unsure, then shrugged and went back to watching where the tank was going.

* * *

 ** **Maho Nishizumi****

 ** **Kuromorimine Girls High School****

 ** **First**** ** _ **Panzertruppe**_**

 ** **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'****

 ** **0011 hours****

Maho watched as the leading edge of the Kuromorimine force rolled into the Pravda camp. To her surprise, she saw Gerhard immediately jump off of Nicole's panzer as it was in motion, running to a group of girls huddled up against a wall. Intrigued and slightly worried as to his sudden urgency, Maho ordered for the crews of Kuromorimine to help out wherever they could and had Yukiko pull up next to where Gerhard was. Nicole and her crew were already there, the former standing by as a translator.

Pushing her way to the front, Maho stopped dead at what she saw; three of the Pravda tankers and Gerhard were kneeling on the ground around a fourth girl, whose leg was missing from the knee down. Blood stained the hastily applied bandage and the snow around it, a little more being added every few seconds. In addition, she was bleeding from multiple cuts and it looked as if the other leg was partially burnt.

Forcing herself not to vomit at the sight, Maho took in the rest of the scene. The other girls were quietly crying, looking up at Gerhard to to see if he would do anything. Observing the pilot, however, Maho recognised the expression on his face as one of hopelessness and regret-in another bout of surprise, Maho watched as Gerhard wiped a tear from his eye and grasped the girl's hand, looking directly at her.

"It's fine...just look at me, okay?" He spoke the Japanese softly, as if speaking to someone he loved. Even though she couldn't understand what was being said, she had a feeling she knew what was about to happen.

"Are you warm?" The girl smiled and nodded, then coughed once. She made a motion of drinking, and Gerhard nodded, fumbling with his canteen and opening the cap, never letting go of the girl's hand. Finally opening it, he poured some into the girl's mouth and let her swallow. Still smiling, she whispered her thanks and shut her eyes. Maho watched as the girl exhaled one last time, then her grip on Gerhard's hand went limp. The activity around them seemed to mute out as the ones present sat in silence, unsure of how to react.

Suddenly, Gerhard stood and punched the wall next to him, splintering the old wooden boards. " _Gott verdammt!_ " As Maho and the others looked at him in surprise at his sudden outburst, the pilot looked up into the sky. " _Warum?! Warum musste sie sterben?! Sie müssen so grausam zu uns?!_ " He punched the wall with his other hand and stood there for a moment, breathing hard.

"Gerhard…?" Maho moved forward, unsure of how to handle the situation. He shook his head and pushed himself off the wall, waving for Nicole to follow him as he began walking through the camp. The two Kuromorimine girls exchanged a look before the blonde ran off in the footsteps of the German pilot.

Maho watched the two run off before turning her attention to the Pravda girls. Quietly, carefully, and solemnly, the girls wrapped up their fallen comrade's body in an old blanket, carrying her into the building next to them. Behind her, Maho heard the crunching of snow underfoot, and Nonna walked up next to her. The expression on the raven-haired girl's face matched those on the other girls' and, to a lesser extent, Maho's as well.

"How many?"

"Six." Nonna replied.

"Wounded?"

"Almost half of everyone from the Second Tank Corps. About seventy-five." Maho exhaled a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. ' _It could have been much worse than that, if that could be any consolation_.'

"Maho…" The Kuromorimine commander turned, surprised to hear Nonna's voice crack. The co-commander of the Pravda Tankery team had turned to face her, and Maho noticed, for the first time, the shell-shocked look in her eyes. "What do we do? If something like that happens again…"

"I think we'll be okay." Maho said quietly, even though she it was a blatant lie; she had no idea what would happen next.

"I thought we could handle losses like this...I thought it wouldn't be like this." Maho watched as the normally calm and composed Nonna fell apart in front of her. She noticed Klara walking up to them, and the blonde silently motioned that she would take over from there. Maho nodded, and the last thing she heard as she walked away was the two of them speaking Russian in soft tones.

No longer focused on trying to console others, the commander of the Kuromorimine Panzerkraft team started marching through the camp, looking for Gerhard and Nicole. She noticed that the majority of her tanks had moved into the treeline, covering them from detection by air. Only a few Panzer IVs and her Tiger were still in the camp, appearing to serve as useful windbreaks to the girls that were helping with the situation at hand.

Marching through the snow, Maho was startled by the scene in front of her: Pravda and Kuromorimine students alike were huddled together around fires or against the lee side of walls, doing their best to warm up. In other cases, girls were keeping their wounded friends company and consoling them. In the middle of the camp, one Pravda girl was standing still, observing the scene with glazed eyes. ' _This is exactly like pictures from the Eastern Front_.'

Hurrying through the camp, Maho finally found Gerhard and Nicole, surrounded by a mass of students from both schools, at least 40. In front of the crowd were eight hastily-made rock markers, with the names of the dead carefully inscribed in both kanji and romanji. Clear patches of ground, freshly-turned earth, and multiple field shovels also marked the burial site, which overlooked a large part of the battlefield.

Seeing Gerhard busy digging through his coat, Maho walked up to Nicole, who turned and blinked when she saw her commander. "What's going on?"

"He offered to hold a small ceremony for…" Nicole motioned towards the gravesite with her head. "He asked me to translate for him."

Maho nodded, watching the German soldier mumble under his breath as he apparently gave up looking in his coat. Looking back at Nicole, he nodded, then turned back to the graves in front of him. Nicole walked forward a few steps, turning so she half-faced the crowd while still being able to hear Gerhard speak.

' _Wir sind heute hier versammelt, um zu trauern um den Verlust unserer Kameraden in Arme, die sich…_ ' Nicole began translating the words Gerhard was reciting, making it difficult to determine what the pilot was saying.

* * *

 ** _ **Oberleutnant**_** ** **Gerhard Köln****

 ** **POW,**** ** _ **Lüftwaffe**_** ** **, Tatsinskaya Detachment****

 ** **9,72 kilometres Due South of Airfield Main Gates****

 ** **0113 hours****

' _What is next?_ '

The German pilot shook his head of the negative thoughts he was having and huddled back up against the wall as the wind gusted again. He sat some thirty metres away from the nearest group of girls, semi-isolated from the Japanese students. He noticed they kept sneaking glances at him, making him feel even more uncomfortable than he did already. It would make sense if they blamed him, even partially, for what was going on.

Looking back to his front, Gerhard shifted his MP40 as he watched the perimeter of the encampment. Through all of the snow blowing across his vision, the well-trained eyes of the pilot saw no movement at all; either the group of Japanese students were truly alone in this wasteland, or any Soviet troops out there were being careful in approaching the camp.

The crunching of snow behind him startled the pilot, who jumped up, submachine gun in hand, and turned, only to find himself leveling the barrel at a very surprised-looking student from the Soviet school. The two stood still for a moment before Gerhard realised she was watching the MP40, upon which he hastily swung it over his shoulder. In Japanese, he asked "How can I help you?"

The girl smiled and giggled a little, relaxing. Then, she responded in German "Not bad...you used the wrong tense of help though." As Gerhard's eyebrows raised in surprise at the correction, the girl took a few steps closer to him in order to be heard over the wind.

"A few of my friends and I wanted to say thank you for what you did back there." The girl continued in German. Gerhard nodded and looked to where the girl was pointing. Three other young girls stood at a respectful distance, observing the conversation. Gerhard noted that one had a bandage wrapped around her entire upper left arm. "I had to translate to them, but they feel you were respectful and kind. Riko even said that she felt you had a personal connection to them."

" _Danke._ " Gerhard said, dipping his head in thanks. If he was going to be honest with himself, he honestly didn't know what he was saying; he simply let the words fall out of his mouth. The girl smiled again and then ran off, heading back to her friends. Gerhard watched her go, then turned back to his self-appointed job.

' _Drtrtrt…drtrtrt...drtrtrt!_ '

The sound of gunfire snapped the German pilot to attention, and he swiftly started to move towards the location the shots had come from. There were shouts from the girls in the camp as they scrambled for cover, but Gerhard already heard multiple V12 engines, obviously German, approaching, though they were some distance away.. ' _They aren't going down without a fight_.'

As he charged into the camp, dodging everyone running for cover, Gerhard heard only short bursts of gunfire, from what sounded like Soviet firearms. He heard no cries of the wounded or the sound of one being killed, which put some hope into his heart.

"Gerhard!"

The pilot slowed and looked behind him to see Nicole chasing after him, looking serious. She caught up with him and the two kept pace as they started towards the source of the small-arms fire. Gerhard grunted and asked "What do you want?! I'm a little busy!"

"Let me help!" the blonde said. "I can shoot well, and you can't shoot two guns at once." Gerhard shook his head in denial; he wasn't about to let another one of the girls, especially one he considered, to some degree, a friend.

A sudden burst of machine gun fire ripped into the snow in front of the two, causing them to jump into cover behind a building. As they leaned up against the wooden structure, catching their breath, Gerhard noticed that the camp was relatively empty; it appeared most of the girls had managed to get out.

The sound of gunfire stopped and was replaced with the sound of heavy footsteps and the occasional outcry in Russian. In addition, the sound of the panzer engine was still audible, but still some distance off. ' _Schiesse!_ '

Against his better judgement, Gerhard motioned at Nicole and handed her the MP-40. "Don't shoot yourself in the foot." he grumbled, shifting the weight of the Mosin-Nagant now in his hands. He put the butt of the rifle up against his shoulder and motioned for Nicole to follow him.

Poking around the corner, Gerhard saw Soviet troops slowly moving up, shouting amongst themselves. Even though he wasn't a _Heer_ soldier trained specifically for this, he had an idea of what to do to keep both him and Nicole alive.

Ducking back behind the corner, he quickly relayed his plan to Nicole, allowing her no room to respond. In the meantime, he took the scope off of his rifle and put it in his pack; at these ranges, it would only be a hindrance to him. Looking up at Nicole one last time, he asked "Ready?"

She nodded, giving him the confirmation he needed. He stepped back around the corner and went down on one knee, opening fire on a squad of Soviet soldiers as they charged the pilot. As he quickly emptied the magazine, Gerhard heard Nicole run behind him, her footsteps quickly receding as she fell back to the next bit of cover. As soon as the Mosin's clip ran out, the pilot ducked back into cover and began reloading as bullets tore into the corner of the wooden building. A grenade landed in the snow next to him, prompting him to kick it away and dive away from it.

Seconds later, the explosive detonated, showering Gerhard with snow and some dirt. Standing back up, he shook his head and finished reloading his rifle as the sound of an MP40 opened up, the submachine gun chattering away.

As soon as Nicole emptied her magazine, she waved him in and reloaded. As soon as she began firing, Gerhard ran for the same cover Nicole was occupying, which was no more than a low brick wall. As he ran across the line of fire of the Soviet troops, the sound of a machine gun firing caused him to dive for the wall, just in time to here the bullets hit the snow behind him. As he pushed himself back up, he heard Nicole say something in Japanese, none of which sounded particularly proper. "What is it?"

"Oh nothing…" she said as she ducked back below the cover of the wall and reloaded. "Just a tank is all." As if to emphasise her point, a cannon boomed, the shot sailing over their position and landing some thirty metres behind them, throwing snow into the air and causing an old shed near the blast to implode.

Looking up over the wall to see a T-34/85 slowly moving up, Gerhard sat back down and groaned. " _Gut, Fick mich._ " Nicole let out a short laugh and smiled, obviously agreeing with him. As the Soviet troops got closer, the pilot heard " _Vyhodit, fashistskoj otbrosy_!" called out multiple times. In addition, he heard the revving of engines again, much closer this time, though he wasn't thinking clearly enough to be able to tell if it was German tanks or if it was the T-34 surely sighting in their position again. Looking at Nicole and nodding, Gerhard took a deep breath in before jumping up.

The two comrades popped up over the wall, weapons leveled. The Red Army troops, obviously not expecting such a stupid move, widened their eyes in surprise as the pair began to fire, swiftly taking down the first line, either by wounding them or sending them diving for cover. Once their ammunition was expended, they ducked back into cover. While she was distracted, Gerhard snatched the MP40 from her hands and reloaded it. He swung the Mosin-Nagant over his shoulder and opened up the stock on the submachine gun.

"Are you crazy?!" Nicole shouted at him. She sat and looked at him as he blind-fired over the wall, attempting to keep the Soviets in cover; why the tank had not fired yet, Gerhard had no idea, but he wasn't about to complain.

"Go! I'll cover you!" She just blinked and stared at him, before a sudden burst of gunfire caused her to duck. Gerhard glared at her and repeated his words, harsher this time. After a moment's hesitation, she turned and fell back as Gerhard fired off the second-to last magazine of ammunition he had for the MP40 to cover her.

Watching the blonde turn a corner and safely disappear, Gerhard steeled his nerves. The Soviets, now knowing he was alone, were cautiously approaching his position, made apparent by the crunching of snow under boots. Suddenly, he heard tank treads squeal as the T-34/85 presumably started to advance as well.

Crawling to where Nicole had been firing from, Gerhard set up for one more attack. As he jumped up, he opened fire, catching the enemy troops off-guard. ' _They were expecting me to be in the same spot_.' The thought brought a small smile to the pilot's face as he emptied the last magazine. Ducking back down, Gerhard dropped the submachine gun and swung the Soviet rifle back around. Thinking swiftly, he took out his knife and secured it onto the muzzle, making a makeshift bayonet. ' _Not great, but it'll do_.'

A shout from the other side of the wall caused Gerhard to pause as he recognised the language as German. "Surrender now! We will treat you fair! Continue to fight and you will be executed!"

Gerhard laughed at the Soviet's statement...for a German soldier, especially a pilot, a 'fair treatment' only meant a swift death. As it was, he was the only thing stalling this group of troops and allowing the two Japanese schools to get into the forest and hide.

Suddenly, the engine Gerhard had been hearing this entire time became much clearer, sounding very close in proximity. Then, as Gerhard watched, a Tiger I turned the corner where Nicole had disappeared and fired it's 8,8cm cannon. An explosion and the shouts of Soviet troops' panic confirmed to the pilot that the enemy tank was now eliminated.

The threat to it now gone, the Tiger advanced, firing its hull and coaxial machine guns. What surprised Gerhard the most, however, was that the figure sticking out of the top of the turret was not Maho...and the German _balkenkreuz_ , the REAL one, painted on the side of the tank, confirmed his thoughts. ' _It's the Panzerkorps_.'


	16. Chapter XV: Cease-Fire

**Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait, but I got really busy with finals, SATs, and the like. Then the holidays and all, plus my mum and dad refusing to let me get this done. But, it's done, and I'm uploading as soon as I finished revisions.**

 **Just an alert, I'm posting a poll on my profile for you all to vote on...you may need to do some research, but the winning result will have an intergal part in an upcoming project I'm doing following the end of this story.**

 **Now, I'll shut up and let you read! Carry on, folks!**

* * *

 **Chapter XV: Cease-fire**

" _Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind."_

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 **POW,** _ **Lüftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **10 kilometres from Airfield Main Gates**

 **2 January 2025**

 **0139 hours**

Gerhard watched as the German heavy tank rolled by him, completely surprised and relieved; not only were the German tankers forcing the Soviet infantry to retreat, saving his skin, but they were also keeping them away from the schoolgirls and could, if he so chose to let them do so, also take him back to the airfield.

The commander of the Tiger saluted him informally, causing Gerhard to respond, just before the snow kicked up by the tank flew into his face. Suddenly cold and very much wet, the pilot wiped the snow off of his face slowly, slightly underwhelmed at the treatment he'd just received at the hands of the Tiger's driver.

Taking a few steps back, Gerhard watched as another Tiger went by, followed by a variety of Panzers. To the pilot, it felt as if the entirety of Germany's panzer divisions had just come.

Suddenly, from behind, Gerhard heard shouts in German. He turned to see panzergrenadiers jogging up in snow camouflage, keeping pace with the Panzer IVs. A few approached him, weapons slightly raised as they did so. " _Oberleutnant_ Köln?"

" _Jawohl._ " the pilot responded, raising his voice to be heard over the last of the Panzer IVs and distant cannon fire; it sounded as if the Soviets were going to try for a second attack on the schools before the _Heer_ arrived.

The soldier went to attention, along with those behind him, and saluted. " _Unterfeldwebel_ Schulz, sir. Glad to see you're okay."

The pilot returned the salute and dropped it, allowing the panzergrenadier squad to do the same. "What brought you here?" Gerhard asked.

As the sounds of battle between steel giants came to a stop, allowing the _unterfeldwebel_ to return his voice to a normal volume. "A scout plane reported seeing friendly tanks engaged with _Bolshevik_ tanks before dark last night. In addition, our battlegroup discovered and engaged with enemy tanks late last night. We believed it was a relief force from a nearby outpost or perhaps from Stalingrad itself., and intended to link up with them and lead them to the airfield."

Gerhard had to suppress a small smirk at Schulz's words; it was apparent that his fellow _Wehrmacht_ soldiers had no idea what happened still. He couldn't blame them, though...they'd been in battle for some time, and he imagined the fatigue from long before this time-travel episode was still with them as well. "Well, Schulz-"

The pilot was cut off by the sound of the German tanks arriving again. Gerhard watched as the lead Tiger, marked 014, pulled up next to him and shut down. Moments later, the hatches of the tank opened up, and the commander of the heavy tank appeared.

* * *

 _ **Hauptmann**_ **Hans Neumann**

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **6th Panzer Division**

 **XLVIII** _ **Panzerkorps**_

 **10 kilometres from Airfield Main Gates**

 **0201 hours**

Hans climbed out of the turret of the Tiger and observed the scene below him; the escort panzergrenadiers were talking to a _Lüftwaffe_ pilot, or at least had been. The entire group was looking up at him, as if waiting. ' _Best not keep them_.' he thought with an inside grin.

"Adolf!" Hans called out to the radio operator. From below, the young man responded with a curious affirmative. "Tell the other tank crews to refuel their vehicles, then get out here and do the same. We will need the fuel if we are to return home!"

" _Jawohl Kommandant!_ "

Jumping down from the deck of the Tiger, Hans landed neatly on his feet, the snow easing his landing. All of the men around saluted him upon seeing his rank, which he immediately returned. Once that formality was aside, he stepped forward and held out his hand to the German pilot. "Köln?"

Taking his hand and shaking it firmly, the pilot nodded in the affirmative. "And you are?"

"Hans Neumann, commander of First Regiment, Sixth Panzer Division. Good to see you safe, Gerhard." The pilot smiled and released his hand, drawing his own back to his side. "However, where did you get that Soviet rifle and uniform?"

The pilot grimaced as he presumably thought of the events that led up to him obtaining the weapon and the heavy Soviet-made coat. "Soviet sniper."

The tone he used made it clear that this was not a topic he wanted to discuss at the moment. Instead, the tank commander nodded and turned to the subject of his platoon's presence. "So, we heard there were reinforcements spotted...perhaps you linked up with them?"

Again, the pilot grimaced, then it eased into more of a smile. "Follow me, please. And please, don't go mad during the next ten minutes." Intrigued, and slightly wary, the commander of the Tiger tank and accompanying panzergrenadiers heeded the pilot's words and began to follow in his footsteps, following him into the nearby forest.

Snow crunched underfoot as the German troops walked through the snow, following the pilot as he led them through the trees. More than once, Hans could've sworn that he heard talking, but every time he focused in on it the only sound he could hear was crunching snow and the heavy breathing of the machine gunner in the squad as he trudged through the snow.

 _Oberleutnant_ Köln stopped for a moment, looking back at those following him. Hans also paused, watching for any tells in the pilot that might show he was leading them into a trap. He saw none, though, not that the tank commander considered himself experienced in that sort of business. "What is it, _oberleutnant_?"

Köln opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as a sudden bolt of lightning flashed nearby, followed very shortly by the thunder. Hans noted something eerie about the approaching storm, and recognised it as similar to the one from a few nights ago. Once the lingering echos of the thunder had passed, the _Lüftwaffe_ pilot went on. "Please, you don't necessarily need the weapons. Just trust me." Raising an eyebrow, Hans motioned for the men to relax their stances and followed the pilot deeper into the woods.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **9,68 kilometres SSE of Airfield Main Gates**

 **0223 hours**

Maho and the other girls were quiet as they listened closely to the sounds in the forest. The sounds of gunfire had died down, followed by the sound of tank engines roaring back into the small abandoned village. The commander of Kuromorimine hadn't heard anything from Gerhard in a while, and her mind was coming up with the worst possible scenarios of what might have happened to the pilot.

' _Pssst._ '

Maho looked to her right, where Nicole was crouched with Erika, Nonna, and Katyusha. She motioned for her to listen closely silently, and Maho did as she suggested. Slowing her breathing so as not to disturb her hearing, Maho listened to the forest around her. After a moment, she heard exactly what Nicole wanted her to: gruff voices were growing closer, speaking German in harsh tones. From the weight of the footsteps, Maho could tell that the people growing closer were also weighed down; with what she didn't know. In addition, through the leaves of the bush they were hiding behind and the thick trunks of the pines, the young Japanese girl saw the uniforms of German _Wehrmacht_ soldiers, led by a familiar figure in a thick Soviet coat.

' _It's Gerhard.'_ Nicole mouthed. Maho gave her a sarcastic look and turned back to the scene in front of her. The five girls watched as the column of men stopped, then closed the last few metres to where the entirety of both Pravda and Kuromorimine were hiding. ' _He isn't actually about to-'_

Just as she had thought moments before it happened, Gerhard, in Japanese, said "Come on out, all of you. They need to meet you."

For the first few moments, the five of them sat and looked at each other. The entirety of the present schools behind them were quiet; nothing could be heard from anyone, not even breathing. Finally, Maho stood, shortly followed by Erika and then the rest.

Upon seeing the five figures, the German soldiers drew their weapons and leveled the barrels at the five of them, immediately perceiving the unknown as a threat. Gerhard immediately shouted something in German and threw himself between the two parties, arms outstretched. The troops hesitated, but kept their stances, one even switching his aim to the fighter pilot. Finally, a new voice spoke up, causing the German soldiers, what looked like _panzergrenadiers_ , to finally withdraw their weapons, though Maho noticed they failed to take their fingers off their weapons' triggers.

A man in a _panzerkorps_ uniform, a _Hauptmann_ if Maho was right, walked up to her and proffered his hand. Gerhard, moving promptly to the officer's side, said "Maho, this is _Hauptmann_ Hans Neumann, commander of the First Regiment, Sixth Panzer Division of the Sixth German Army at Stalingrad." Maho took the officer's hand and shook it, waiting for Gerhard to introduce her to the man.

After a brief moment, Gerhard continued, an extremely cautious tone in his voice. He spoke in German to the tanker and Maho, along with the other four girls and probably all of the tank crews of both schools still hidden behind them, watched as the two men began to discuss what would probably be the most bizarre thing the _hauptmann_ would ever hear.

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Lüftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **9,68 kilometres SSE of Airfield Main Gates**

 **0231 hours**

Gerhard watched his senior's face change expressions multiple times as he finished telling his tale, the tank commander obviously not believing what he had just heard. The men behind him looked equally skeptical, and a few gave each other wary looks, as though the pilot in front of them had gone mad after being out of contact with anyone for a while.

' _Hard to argue with the evidence behind me, though.'_ Gerhard thought; the five very real commanders of the two schools behind him looked very uncomfortable as well, obviously hoping for some good news from him.

 _Hauptmann_ Neumann looked about ready to say something, but then stopped. After a few more moments, the Tiger commander nodded slowly, as though still thinking on how to react to Gerhard's story. "Well, _oberleutnant_ , say you _are_ telling the truth...if they are from the future, shouldn't they know what the outcome of the war is?" At that, each and every Wehrmacht soldier, save for Gerhard, looked to the five girls expectantly, the same thought going through their heads; ' _Has Germany won the war?'_

However, before any of the girls could respond, Gerhard intervened yet again. "Sir, do you really think that's the best idea?" The pilot waved off the looks of dismay he received from his fellow soldiers as he walked straight up to Neumann.

Just before Gerhard spoke, the _hauptmann_ interrupted him. "Do you not want to know the outcome of the war, Köln? Wouldn't you want to know if the cause we are fighting for will last?"

More than a few thoughts went through Gerhard's mind at that question, his mind fighting itself on what to say. Finally, after almost a minute, he spoke up. "Sir, if we learn of the result of the war here in the future, it may end up that we disturb what should happen. Imagine if we discover Germany does lose the war...we would all try to do our best to prevent it and may end up causing issues for whatever our future is." To be honest, just thinking of the implications of changing the timeline was causing Gerhard to become confused; he wasn't about to try and explain it.

Neumann nodded slowly, processing what the _Lüftwaffe_ pilot had just said. It made sense, what he said, but there was still the curiosity of whether or not the Third Reich would win the war. If not that, he at least wanted to know whether or not the Germans would win Stalingrad back. ' _I suppose that would be asking the same thing_ '

Just before the _hauptmann_ could respond, a cough in the bushes caught his attention and caused the footsoldiers to tense, their weapons going up to their shoulders. Suddenly, Nicole ran out in front of the guns of the panzergrenadiers, arms outstretched. The soldiers looked to Neumann for guidance and the tension in the air increased with every passing second.

"What are you hiding, _oberleutnant_?" the Tiger commander said, looking to the pilot as he said so. Gerhard stepped forward, hands slightly outstretched to his sides as he approached to convey his lack of hostility.

"Remember what I told you sir...that this a completely different timeline, and that there are two schools here?" The captain's eyes widened as he realised what the pilot was implying, as did the other German troops with them. Neumann waved at the panzergrenadiers to lower their weapons once more as Gerhard beckoned to the bushes behind him, where the coughing had come from.

Slowly, and extremely cautiously, the young women from Pravda and Kuromorimine came out and found a spot to stand in the clearing. Gerhard noted that more than a few of them looked very nervous, scared even, about what might be coming. However, as the crews of the two schools' tanks appeared, the pilot saw his comrades' faces slowly lose their hard edge and the panzergrenadiers' grip on their firearms loosen, the weapons finally ending up by their sides or on their backs. Eventually, the whole of the two schools showed themselves in front of the small contingent of Wehrmacht soldiers.

A low whistle came from Neumann at the number of students in front of him, some five hundred plus girls. Gerhard saw that the _hauptmann_ 's eyes were observing the group in front of him, slowly taking in what he saw. Looking at the commanders of the schools, Neumann finally spoke. "How many wounded do you have? And who did it?"

Maho, Erika, Nonna, and Katyusha all looked at Gerhard for translation, while Nicole paused momentarily before stepping forward. "I think we have at least one-hundred injured, plus six dead." She held her silence for an extended period of time, causing Neumann to clear his throat loudly as he waited for an answer to the second part.

Stepping forth, Gerhard took over. "Sir, the mainstay of the casualties came from your attack on the Soviet-modeled school and the preemptive airstrike the _Lüftwaffe_ conducted minutes beforehand."

The commander of the panzer battlegroup maintained a blank, unemotional gaze towards the pilot, but Gerhard saw the feeling of guilt he had reflected in his eyes. The clearing was silent for almost a minute, until the _hauptmann_ finally took a few more steps forward, looking again to the five commanders. "I know this probably means nothing to you, but I am truly sorry for the damage and grief we have caused to you. I assure, if we knew the truth, we would not have engaged you."

Nicole's translating continued after the _hauptmann_ 's for another few moments, before the clearing went silent again. Gerhard's focus flashed back and forth between the sides, ready to catch any type of hostile movements either side made.

Suddenly, Maho broke the silence by speaking rapidly in Japanese to Nicole. Once she finished, the blonde tanker relayed the words to the Germans standing by.

"My commander says that, to an extent, she accepts your apology." Nicole said. "However, she also says that she is not the one you should be apologising to."

Neumann nodded slowly at her words, a surprised look on his face at the fact that Maho had been so frank in what she said. He looked to Gerhard for guidance, who discreetly motioned to the two Pravda High School commanders.

* * *

 **First Lieutenant Isoroku Watanabe**

 **F-15J Jet Engine Fighter**

 **2nd Air Wing, 201st Squadron**

 **Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (Chitose AFB)**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **0542 hours**

"First Lieutenant Watanabe, Two-Hundredth Squadron, entering Abashiri airspace. Local air control, acknowledge."

"Abashiri Missile Defence, acknowledging. Carry on, sir."

The radio crackled as the pilot banked around the city of Abashiri, slowing the aircraft. The F-15 came out of the turn smoothly as Isoroku lightened up on the throttle. The drone of the twin Pratt and Whitney F-100-PW-100 engines quieted slightly as the pilot drifted, trying not to wake the sleeping city below. He passed out of the suburbs and into the outskirts of Abashiri, where the 3rd Motorised Infantry Regiment of the JGSDF was encamped below. He saw the LAVs and men below, some stationary as they presumably watched the jet fly over.

He smiled as he pulled up to 300 metres above the trees, keeping an eye on the altimeter. Edging the throttle forward, he directed the nose of his aircraft towards the Pravda Girls High School _Sensha-do_ training grounds. He flipped a switch and heard a sudden whirring as the camera opened on the nose, where the 20-millimetre Vulcan would normally go.

When he finally got over the training grounds, Watanabe was shocked to see the smoking wrecks of tanks strewn around the area, fires burning in multiple locations. ' _There's no way this could have been from a training match_.' He saw some active tanks below him as he passed over a train depot, figures scurrying for cover. ' _What is going on here?'_

Shaking his head in confusion, the pilot banked the aircraft back around. Turning on the screen display for the camera, Watanabe slowed the aircraft some more and began to press the button as he passed over various parts of the training grounds.

* * *

 _ **Obersoldat**_ **Klaus Weber**

 _ **Lütwaffe**_ **Ground Forces, Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Anti-Aircraft Emplacement No. 12**

 **German-held Airfield**

 **0603 hours**

Klaus shook the match in his hand and dropped it in the snow, puffing on his newly-lit cigarette. The other men were huddled around the campfire near the 2cm Flak 38 _Flakvierling_ as the sun slowly began to rise in the east.

Hans, the youngest one in the gun crew at 19, coughed as a waft of cigarette passed in front of him. The others chuckled as Klaus smiled and clapped the boy on the back. "Don't worry, you'll grow used to it eventually."

Finishing his fit, Hans looked up at the fire with a smile on his face. "I doubt that sir."

His reply elicited some more light laughter amongst the gun crew as the _obersoldat_ snorted. "I've told you before, I'm not sir; I actually work for my food in this army."

As the men continued to make jabs at each other, Klaus walked away to the edge of the runway. Up and down, the forms of Ju-87s and Bf. 109s sat silent in the cold morning sun, the ones in the sun steaming as the metal warmed. The _obersoldat_ was anxious for the tankers that had left last night to return with news of where exactly they were; there was no way this was the true Tatsinskaya airfield 260 kilometres from Stalingrad. Too much was different, and earlier scouting missions by fighter pilots had turned up similar results.

He sighed and shook his head clear of the thoughts in his mind as a few ground crewmen walked by, moving swiftly to the barracks to warm up. ' _Meitzen._ ' he thought. The cold wasn't that bad.

As he sat there in silence, Klaus suddenly began to hear a low drone, steadily growing louder. He stood and began to walk slowly, looking for the source. A few other men were doing the same, scanning the sky as the drone continued.

" _Flugzeug gefleckt!_ " someone shouted, pointing high in the air. Following the soldier's finger, Klaus saw the aircraft in question; a sleek, alien design approaching faster than any aircraft he'd ever seen. On its side, he saw a flash of red, and he immediately reacted.

"Soviet air raid! All crews, man your guns!"

With that, the area began to move as men raced to crew their guns. As Klaus ran to his _Flakvierling_ , he saw a few of the pilots begin to clamber into their aircraft as spotlights began to turn on.

"Klaus!" The gun crew was ready to fire, waiting for their commander to show up and take his place. Sitting down and grabbing the hand crank, the crew swung the gun around to the direction of approach of the aircraft. " _Feuer frei!_ "

 _BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!_

* * *

 **First Lieutenant Isoroku Watanabe**

 **F-15J Jet Engine Fighter**

 **2nd Air Wing, 201st Squadron**

 **Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (Chitose AFB)**

 **Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan**

 **0600 hours**

Watanabe shook his head at the mess of a battlefield below, the camera making audible clicks every time he snapped a photo. Feeling done with this area, he turned the aircraft in the direction of the abandoned airfield in the northwest part of the training grounds. As he did, he looked out towards the west, where a large storm threatened to move in soon. ' _That's not good._ '

As he approached the airfield, the pilot noted that there was a lot more activity on the ground than one might expect from an abandoned airfield. He slowed the jet to 170 knots in order to get a closer look.

Amongst tanks and various armoured vehicles, the pilot was startled to see men in old WWII _Wehrmacht_ uniforms running around in panic. He snapped a few pictures of the scene below when he suddenly saw a burst of light up ahead.

" _Kuso!_ "

Watanabe rolled the aircraft as a burst of anti-aircraft fire streamed by the cockpit, a stray round ripping off some of the airfoil on his right wing. He threw the throttle forward as black clouds began to bloom near him, shaking the aircraft as more streams of light-AA fire flew by the cockpit.

Banking the jet back around, the pilot felt the aircraft jolt and saw the screen display of the camera go black. He cursed again, then focused on the task at hand. Nosing the F-15 into a steep climb, the pilot got on the radio.

"First Lieutenant Watanabe to Abashiri Missile Defence Base! Tell the GDF to attack now! Taking heavy fire from the airfield!"

"Are you sure?"

Watanabe stared at the radio, silently calling the radio operator a very long list of names that had to do with him being extremely stupid. As he did, a sudden lurch and a beeping from the flight panel brought him back to reality as a flashing red light told him one of his engines was failing.

"Yes, I'm sure! I have a hole in my right wing and one of my engines is out! Send the army NOW!" Sounding slightly cowed, the operator agreed and broke off the contact as Isoroku struggled to keep the jet in the air.

* * *

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'**

 **10 kilometres S of Airfield Main Gates**

 **0617 hours**

Maho drew the heavy wool coat Gerhard had given her tighter as a morning breeze blew into her face. The pilot in question was a few paces away, speaking to the Tiger commander as the panzergrenadiers climbed onto the back of the tank. From how the past few hours had gone, she thought the German tanker would be going straight to his superiors after they returned to the base. The engine of the Tiger roared to life as Gerhard saluted the _hauptmann_ smartly, making Maho smile faintly. The smile grew when the Tiger lurched away, causing the pilot to be covered in snow suddenly.

"That's twice the damn driver has done that to me now." Gerhard said as he walked back to her, wiping snow off his face. She maintained the smile as the pilot took a spot next to her, both watching the sunrise.

"So?"

Gerhard sighed. "I told Neumann I'll report in at the airfield shortly, within a few days. As soon as I do, I'm sure that command will refuse to let me leave the base under penalty of court-martial." He picked up a nearby stick and began drawing in the snow. "I figured I'd try to spend a few more days out here before going back."

Though he didn't say it, Maho could hear the implied ' _with you_ ' in the pilot's last sentence. Behind them, Maho saw Nicole walking up to them, stopping shortly when she saw the two of them. Being who she was, Nicole grinned and flashed a thumbs-up to her before running off in the other direction. Maho sent a look to kill in the direction of her retreating form before a voice broke her out of her thoughts. "What's that look for?"

She looked down to see Gerhard had finished his scribbling, drawing a vague resemblance to her own Tiger tank, complete with her form sticking out of the cupola. "Nice work. I think that's-"

A rumble of thunder interrupted the Kuromorimine commander from the looming storm clouds to the west, the noise causing Gerhard to stand and look towards them warily. "Those look like the same storm clouds that caused us to come to your time in the first place." He shuffled his feet slightly, accidently covering up the treads of the Tiger at their feet.

"You don't think that it's going to happen again, do you?" Maho questioned, observing the clouds as well. From what she could tell, they were only a few hours out. As she watched, a strangely coloured bolt of lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the darkness.

"Maybe." Gerhard said, eyes fixed. "If you're lucky, maybe we'll be taken back to the war in 1941."

Maho nodded, slightly confused as to why he said ' _If you're lucky…_ '. Then, she thought back to the six graves overlooking the Pravda Training Grounds, and the wounded that they'd worked hours to help survive. "Gerhard…"

" _Ja?_ "

"I don't know how to tell you this, but…" Maho stumbled as she thought about what to say. She honestly didn't know what to say; she'd never done this before.

Gerhard turned to look at her, smiling faintly. "Me too, Maho. Don't worry, I don't think either of us have done this before." She returned the small grin, which quickly faded as he turned back around. "I just don't know how you think it'd work out, if I actually do disappear." As if to punctuate his words, another flash of lightning arced across the sky, followed shortly by the deep rumble of thunder.

Maho sighed, the pilot's point made. She walked up beside him and took his hand, causing him to jump suddenly at the sudden contact. "Doesn't mean we can't make use of what time we have left." He raised an eyebrow at that statement, causing Maho to give him a indignant look.

Chuckling, the pilot smiled. "Alright, I suppose you're right." Relaxing, the pilot wrapped his arms around the Kuromorimine commander, looking down at her. "I suppose it wouldn't be too forward if I asked to kiss you, would it?"

"No one asks that nowadays, Gerhard." Maho said softly as he leaned in, closing her eyes as she felt his breath.

"Maho! You need to see this!" Nicole's voice called out. "Sorry, but it's really important!"

* * *

 **Psych! Did I get you guys that want Gerhard and Maho together?**

 **Anyways, don't forget to vote in the poll, and as always, feel free to review and tell me what you think! Also, I promise not to make you wait almost two months for the next update!**


	17. Chapter 16: Once More Unto the Breach

**Cheers again, guys! Feels like forever since I updated, but here it is...I had a lot of problems writing this one, reasons to be explained later. For now, I hope you enjoy Chapter Sixteen!**

 **Shoutout to WarHusky2000, who may not like me too much by the end of this...don't worry, I have plans.**

* * *

 **Chapter XVI: Once More Unto the Breach**

" _And now you'll be telling stories,_

 _of my coming back,_

 _and they won't be false, and they won't be true,_

 _but they'll be real."_

-Mary Oliver, ' _A Thousand Mornings_ '

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Lüftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **9,68 kilometres SSE of Airfield Main Gates**

 **2 January 2025**

 **0637 hours**

Gerhard hummed absent-mindedly as he peered through Nicole's binoculars, looking for what Nicole had called them over for. "I don't see anything, Nicole." he said, returning the optics back to the owner. "Are you sure you saw anything?"

As the blonde stuck her tongue out at him, Maho pulled away from her binoculars and looked at the two of them. "I don't see anything either Nicole. I don't think it's that easy to hide a motorised infantry regiment in the snow."

"I'm telling you, I saw JSDF soldiers a few minutes ago." Nicole argued, looking through her binoculars to see for herself. Seeing nothing, she looked back to Maho. "Maybe it's the fog."

Gerhard and Maho both raised an eyebrow, before Gerhard shook his head. "Whatever you say." Shifting the weight of the weapons on his back, the pilot took a breath as he looked up at the sky. "I still don't understand how Japan in your time doesn't have a real military. I'm sure you know that they had a very large military in my time." The two girls looked at each other as Gerhard walked a few metres away, looking north uneasily.

"I really should get back to airfield." he said, not turning around. "I know what I said, Maho, but…"

"I get it." the Kuromorimine commander stated, walking up next to him. She saw a few snowflakes fall, followed by more. The three of them looked up as a roll of thunder sounded almost directly overhead.

"Alright, Maho." Gerhard said, turning to her. He quickly glanced over her at Nicole, looking at the blonde with a hard look. It seemed she understood the meaning, and turned away to inspect the tracks of her Panzer IV.

Looking back into Maho's eyes, Gerhard sighed. "I promise I will try and get back as soon as possible. Just make sure you stay out of danger." She nodded and watched as he brought out the flare gun the _hauptmann_ gave him. He opened the barrel and inserted the flare shell, the round making a ' _Click!'_ as it locked into place.

"Well…"

Gerhard looked back up, then put the flare gun back in his pocket, pulling Maho into another hug. "I don't suppose I can have another-"

Maho cut him off by stretching up and kissing him on the lips, leaving the pilot shocked as she drew away. She smiled at Gerhard's expression, which somewhat resembled a fish gasping out of water. After he finished blinking and shook the look off his face, he grinned as wide as he could. "I'll take that as a yes."

The two kissed again, the cold air swirling around them as the wind picked up. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Gerhard finally pulled away, a smile still on his face. To his right, the sound of a throat clearing caught his attention and he remembered that Nicole was still there, along with the crews of both the Panzer IV and Tiger, all of whom were watching adamantly. "Right."

Walking over to Nicole, he hugged the blonde briefly, then held her out by the shoulders, looking at her. "Thank you for everything, Nicole. Without you-"

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the mushy stuff." Nicole brought him back into a hug, clapping him on the back roughly. "I suggest you make good on that promise too." she said quietly.

Gerhard nodded before extracting himself from the girl's arms, returning to Maho's side. He waved to the girls in the two tanks, whose smiles had faltered slightly. Unholstering the flare gun again, the _Lüftwaffe_ pilot pointed the barrel straight up, then pulled the trigger. With a loud hiss, the shell launched into the air, before exploding to life with a loud crack.

Looking back down at the two tank commanders, Gerhard thought of something, a sideways smile appearing on his face.

"What evil plan do you have in your head?" Nicole said sarcastically, looking at the pilot with a raised eyebrow. Gerhard heard a few snickers from the tank crews, and caught a smile on Maho's face.

"Nothing, actually." he replied. "I just want to make sure you take care of my plane if I don't return. Maybe put her back together if you can." As he finished, a low buzzing became audible. Shortly after, an aircraft appeared from over the trees, flying overhead before banking around.

"We'll see what we can do." Maho said, her eyes on the plane as it landed. Gerhard noted it was a Fi 156 _Storch_ , retrofitted with skis instead of landing gear. He took a deep breath and looked at Maho again, who nodded. With a final wave, the pilot jogged towards the reconnaissance plane and hauled himself inside. In a blast of snow, the plane took off and disappeared into the stormy sky.

* * *

 _ **Senior-Praporshchik**_ **(Senior Warrant Officer) Mikhail Smirnov**

 **24th Soviet Tank Corps**

 **Combined Attack Force**

 **T-34/1942**

 **50 metres from Airfield Main Gates**

 **0730 hours**

"Come comrades! One more time! Into the enemy's guns! For Stalingrad, for our glorious Motherland! Not one step back!"

' _URAAA!_ '

With one resounding battle cry, the majority of the infantry units in the 24th Tank Corps broke cover and charged the front gates of the airfield in synchronisation with the T-34s and BT-7s. At the lead was the flag-bearer, proudly holding the Soviet Banner as he led the charge against the Fascist positions. At the rear, the commissars and warrant officers like Mikhail trailed, ensuring no man dared to try and retreat. Major Yakov had given orders that one last attempt to take the airfield was to be made, and the attack wouldn't stop until the flag flew on the top of the control tower.

Suddenly, as the leading edge of the attack passed through the gates, machine-gun fire erupted from multiple locations in front of them. Suddenly, a T-34 charged forward, blasting a machine gun nest apart before crushing another underneath its treads.

Reinvigorated, the infantry surged forward, taking cover behind the tanks. One of the men darted out from their cover and snatched up the flag from the fallen carrier, raising it over his head. The soldier clambered on top of one of the tanks, shouting encouragement to his fellow comrades.

Pushing to the front, Mikhail took a position in front of the soldier and blew the whistle around his neck. "Men! Follow the flag-bearer! Protect the flag! Kill every last Nazi you find and destroy anything you see! Remember your comrades, your friends who have died fighting for this airfield! Kill the German invaders! With our tanks and flag leading the way, we will be unstoppable! URA!"

' _URAAAAAAAA!_ '

With another deafening battle cry, the 24th Tank Corps charged into battle one more time as Katyusha rockets arced overhead, their screams sounding impending doom for any German defenders still alive.

* * *

 **Nicole Silverstone**

 **Kuromorimine Second** _ **Panzertruppe**_

 **Pzkpfw. IV H**

 **11,7 kilometres ESE of Airfield Main Gates**

 **0754 hours**

Nicole looked over to where Maho and Erika were talking by the former's tank, presumably discussing their next course of action. She noticed that the Kuromorimine commander kept looking around, wary for any attacks that might occur.

' _The last few days have put us all on edge._ ' the blonde said as she stood up from repairing the tracks on her Panzer IV. "Alright, Aoi! Try it now!" she said, banging on the hull of the steel beast. In response, the engine of the panzer roared to life, followed by the squealing of tracks as Aoi tried to get out of the ditch. Nicole jumped back as snow began to fly around as the tracks looked for purchase in the snow and mud.

Suddenly, the tank lurched forwards and up, the flying snow turning into flying mud as the grousers on the tracks dug into the earth. Nicole watched the panzer climb the side of the embankment, then crest the top and stop, silhouetted against the sky. The engine cut off as the various hatches opened up, her crew jumping out of the tank.

"Nice work Aoi!" Nicole called up as she started clambering up the steep slope. By the time she reached the top, she had to stop and catch her breath, the sudden burst of energy she felt expended.

"Are you good, Nicole?" Sayaka asked, standing over her friend. Nicole nodded as she stood up straight, taking a deep breath as she did. The commander of the Panzer IV looked around her at her crew, thinking back to everything that had happened in the last 48 hours. ' _Thank God we didn't have to go through that ourselves._ '

"Vehicles spotted, closing in from the west!"

' _I just had to say something._ '

* * *

 **Leading Private Takumi Yahagi**

 **Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force**

 **3rd Infantry Regiment (Motorised)**

 **2nd Infantry Division (Northern Army)**

 **11,7 kilometres ESE of Airfield Main Gates**

 **0804 hours**

"Third Squad, prepare to disembark!"

Takumi checked his Type 62 LMG as the troop carrier ground to a halt. Looking out of the firing port closest to him, he only saw a number of WWII German tanks, with no visible distinguishing signs as to whether they were Kuromorimine Girl's High School or actual German tanks. As far as he doubted the report, _something_ had caused the pilot that had made that report to panic, and _something_ had put some very nasty holes in his jet.

As the doors opened, Lieutenant Okamura shouted "Move out! Defensive perimeter, go!" No one responded as the eight men charged out of the Type 96, rushing to find some sort of cover. As he ran, Takumi prayed ' _Please be friendly, please be friendly…_ '

Finally, he found a spot and dove into the snow, setting up the machine gun as he heard shouts from the other squad. Looking around, he saw that they had an audience of tank crews; with a sigh of relief, he finally saw that these tanks were part of Kuromorimine. It seemed Lieutenant Okamura and the captain recognised that as well, the latter shouting an 'all clear' as he walked up to a figure that was approaching them.

Takumi stood, slinging the heavy machine gun over his back as the others did the same. He walked towards Okamura and the captain, both of whom were in conversation with a few of the Kuromorimine students. As he came up on the group, he noticed that all of the three girls faces, as well as the ones back further, conveyed the fact that the group was extremely tired and worn out. ' _What is it that happened here?_ '

The conversation paused as Third Squad regrouped on the lieutenant, the girls looking around at the JGSDF soldiers before continuing on with their story.

Takumi and his fellow soldiers listened with widening eyes and growing disbelief as the top three commanders of Kuromorimine told them their tale, hearing of battles with T-34s and Soviet infantry, the shooting down of a _Lüftwaffe_ fighter plane, and the subsequent help they received from the pilot. They spoke of an airstrike that happened with the Pravda Girls High School, and a lot of questions erupted in Takumi's mind, all of which were quickly answered as the girls told them of the casualties that had resulted.

When they finished, there was complete silence among Third Squad and any others nearby. The three young women waited for a response as the eight men and their commander took in the mass of confusing information they had just received. Takumi was sure that the other men, just like him, were trying to process the idea that some sort of time-travelling event had happened.

Takumi was shocked out his thinking stupor by a sudden flash, followed by an extremely loud roll of thunder that reverberated through his bones before dispersing. Suddenly alert, the squad all looked up as the wind began blowing, strongly. Takumi watched as snow blew up, beginning to lessen the visibility.

"Sir!" the communications technician started. "Task Group Two has contacted the other high school. They report that'll need some immediate medical support!"

The look on the Kuromorimine girls' faces seemed to relax as Takumi noticed a lot of them seemed to sigh; whether or not they did, the wind was getting too loud for him to tell. The captain walked a little closer as the wind gusted, the accelerating winds starting to make speech impossible.

"Miss Nishizumi!" he said, raising his voice to be heard. "We have orders to escort you back into Abashiri! We need you to follow us!" Maho nodded absent-mindedly,looking to the north with a look, Takumi noted, that appeared she was waiting for someone or something.

"Miss Nishizumi!"

The second shout from the captain seemed to shake the young woman out of her thoughts, and she began to give orders to her team. Takumi watched in slight wonderment as the _Sensha-do_ team began to move, the sound of tank engines starting up cutting through the wind.

"Task Group Three! Load up! Let's get these girls home!" A few of the men cheered as the men of the JGSDF returned to their personnel carriers and began the travel home.

* * *

 **Captain Akira Nakamura**

 **Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force**

 **4th-Generation MBT Type 10**

 **7th Armoured Division**

 **71st Tank Regiment**

 **4,7 kilometres S of Airfield Main Gates**

 **0837 hours**

Captain Nakamura grinned as the Type 10 raced over the snow at 70 kilometres an hour, leading the charge north to the airfield.

Whatever it was that had attempted to shoot down the pilot of the F-15 was most likely at the airfield still, and it was the objective of the five Type 10 tanks in Task Group 1 to figure out what it was and, if necessary, eliminate the threat.

Akira help onto the side of the hatch as the Type 10 jumped over a snowbank, going airborne for a few moments before crashing back down. Once the tank had re-stabilised, the tank commander lifted his binoculars to his eyes, looking ahead to where the airfield would be visible, if the visibility was not obscured by the snowstorm.

"Ichiro, stop the tank." Ichiro Chuichi, the driver of the tank, brought the 48-tonne beast to a halt quickly. Akira heard him speaking through the radio, and saw the other four armoured vehicles in the battlegroup come to a halt as well.

The hatch on the other side of the turret opened up and Kaito Subaru, the gunner, stuck his head out, looking around the vehicle. "What is it?"

Akira sighed as he let the binoculars return to hanging around his neck, his exhaled breath condensing in the cold air. "Listen."

The two men were silent for a moment, listening to the wind howl across the landscape, before dying down for a moment. Akira watched Kaito's face light up with recognition as he heard the sounds from up ahead, and opened his mouth to say something.

"Not now. Let's get moving again." The gunner nodded and disappeared back into the tank as Akira ducked into the turret. "Ichiro, report to command that we've confirmed the sound of gunfire originating from the airfield. Let's go find out what's going on."

" _Yokite!_ "

The Type 10 lurched back into motion as the captain closed and locked the hatch, preparing for the first real battle of the JSDF.

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Lüftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinkskaya Detachment**

 **German-held Airfield**

 **0846 hours**

Gerhard sighed as he looked at himself in the dirty mirror in the room he'd been given. Looking at his uniform, he decided it was good enough to face the command and give them a report. ' _Just a question of whether or not they believe me._ '

The pilot retrieved his cap and exited the dark room, walking down the hallway as the sounds of distant battle echoed outside. While the thought rattled him, he was also relieved; every moment the Soviets and Germans were here, the longer Maho and Katyusha had to get out of the area with their schools.

Walking outside, Gerhard hailed down a _Kübelwagen_ that was driving by. The driver stopped and Gerhard jumped in over the side, disregarding the door. "Control tower, quickly."

The driver nodded and began driving swiftly towards the control tower. Gerhard kept an eye out while they traveled through the area, looking for any signs of combat in the area. The only thing he saw was pioneers quickly setting up defences as the Soviets closed in. Here and there, he saw squads retreating from the frontline and medic stations working furiously to get men back into action.

"What do you think of all this?!" Gerhard shouted to the driver, a _feldwebel._ The driver looked over at him and shrugged.

"I think we should have evacuated long ago! The Soviets have taken Stalingrad anyway! If you ask me, the _Führer_ needs to let it go and get who we can out!" The driver looked satisfied, followed shortly by his eyes widening and suddenly being very cagey, keeping his eyes on the road.

"No worries _feldwebel._ " Gerhard said with a grin. "I agree with you. I'm not part of the Gestapo either." The young man relaxed as he turned onto the road that led up to the control tower, stopping at the door. Gerhard jumped out of the car, again ignoring the fact that there were doors on the car. The driver saluted him, and Gerhard returned the gesture before the driver drove off in a cloud of snow, headed back down the narrow path to the airstrip.

Gerhard turned, looking around as he walked up the steps to the door. He noticed that there was about a platoon or so of soldiers were sitting in trenches around the tower, and the observation balcony was reinforced with sandbags and a few MG-34s. Not far away, a Hanomag was being put into a hull-down location as ammunition trucks were unloaded throughout the area. ' _Looks like command doesn't have very high hopes for our chances of winning this one._ '

With a sigh, Gerhard pulled open the reinforced doors and walked inside the control tower. He was greeted with a large amount of activity as the skeleton crew inside did their best to gather code books and documents to throw into the fireplace. There was already a nice blaze inside, sparks flying as paper, wood, and various other materials burned away. Gerhard worked his way through the chaos, making his way up to the top floor to meet with the airfield commander.

When he reached the top floor, Gerhard saw that the room had been deserted, save for a lone soldier who was hauling a load of machine gun ammunition out to the positions on the balcony. When he saw Gerhard, he nodded at him, rather than drop the ammunition boxes he had and salute.

"Where is _Kommandant_ Schliemann?" Gerhard asked, observing the room. The radar screens and other devices had all been smashed, leaving bits of glass littering the floor. The soldier looked at Gerhard with raised eyebrows, then shrugged.

"The majority of the commanding officers are getting ready to evacuate the airfield. Their vehicles left no more than a few minutes ago...they're just waiting for this storm to pass." Gerhard nodded and looked outside...indeed, the visibility was getting to be extremely limited. Gerhard realised that he was probably the only one who knew what was about to come, raising the hair on the back of his neck.

"You're a pilot?" the soldier said, holding the door open. Gerhard nodded and walked out onto the balcony, watching as the soldier dropped off the ammunition next to a MG34 and began loading it. "They suspended all other air operations for now, so would you mind helping out here? We don't have anyone over an _Unterfeldwebel_...we could use a commander." The men on the balcony looked at him expectantly as Gerhard tried to formulate an answer.

"I'm a pilot." he finally said, slowly. "I'm not specialised in ground combat."

The soldier shrugged and said "No matter. It's more for morale than anything. It helps when we have someone we can trust in making some sort of decision in combat."

"Alright then. I'll do it." The soldiers on the balcony grinned and resumed their preparations as the soldier handed Gerhard a Kar 98k. The pilot-turned-commander took up a position behind some sandbags as the wind gusted again and the storm above rolled deeply.

' _I hope to see you again, Maho.'_

* * *

 **Captain Akira Nakamura**

 **Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force**

 **4th-Generation MBT Type 10**

 **7th Armoured Division**

 **71st Tank Regiment**

 **700 metres from Airfield Main Gates**

 **0906 hours**

"Captain!"

Akira looked down to see Ichiro looking up at him from the driver's seat. The young man briefly tapped the headset on his head, then made a few hand signals, wordlessly conveying his message to the commander of the tank.

The JSDF captain turned the tuning on his headset to the channel Ichiro had shown. Once there, he opened up the communications. "Captain Akira Nakamura, Task Force 1, reporting."

"Captain Nakamura, this is Commander Junzaburo. What is your status, over?"

The volume and forcefulness of the response took the captain by surprise momentarily before he regained his composure and responded. "Commander, we are approximately three-quarters of a kilometre out from the airfield, holding position due to the weather."

"What's the weather like up there, if it's causing so much trouble?" Akira thought he detected a hint of sarcasm in the commander's voice, but he decided to go along with it, looking around the viewports at the terrain outside, or, at least the terrain he could observe.

"Visibility is around twenty metres, sir. The wind is continuing to-"

"I didn't mean it, captain. Use the thermal sights and engage anything you see. The area is clear of all JSDF and civilian forces. Anything that's up there with you is to be considered hostile to you."

"Yes sir. Captain Nakamura, out." Akira took off the headset and closed his eyes, shaking his head. ' _Why must some officers be so rude?_ '

Shaking the matter off, the commander of the Type 10 replaced the headset and tuned back into the platoon radio. "All units, prepare to move out. Our orders are to activate the thermal sights and engage the enemy." As Akira finished relaying the message, he heard the sound of the engine turning over, causing the fighting compartment to vibrate slightly. One by one, the other commanders reported their readiness, until finally, the battlegroup was ready.

"Task Force One, _zenshin!_ "

* * *

 _ **Leytenant**_ **Dimitri Izmaylov**

 **24th Tank Corps**

 **T-34/1942**

 **Airstrip, German-held Airfield**

 **0923 hours**

"Beautiful shot Bogdan!"

Dimitri ducked as the German Ju-52 cargo plane flew overhead, crashing into the ground before exploding in flames. Bogdan grunted in acceptance as the engine of the T-34 roared. Behind them, the infantry units moved up, the Red Banner at the head of the group. Ever so slowly, the 24th Tank Corps moved up, shooting any Germans that dared to show themselves. Despite the heavy snow, Dimitri knew that the attack had almost reached the control tower; it was only a matter of whether or not the Germans would try to defend it or run like cowards.

" _Komandir!_ " Yuri yelled from the driver's seat. "German anti-tank cannon at the end of the runway!"

Even before Dimitri could focus on the gun emplacement, a shot rang out from a T-34 to the right, and the Flak 88 was blasted apart, pieces of it flying off into the storm. The tanks surged forward, machine guns firing as the remaining defenders struggled to hold their ground. The shock infantry rushed forward, brutally executing the Germans in the trenches as Dimirti spotted a path that led to an overlook. ' _No doubt, that's where the tower is._ ' "Yuri!"

"I see it, _komandir!_ Are we going to lead?"

"Do I have to answer that?!" Dimitri grinned as he looked into the belly of the tank. The others all mirrored his smile as Yuri revved the engine and the T-34 began climbing the hill. The other tanks followed close behind, only to be stopped as Yuri reached a line of tank traps, blocking off the road.

" _Chyort!_ " Dimitri exclaimed as he picked up the radio. "All tankers, dismount! We go on foot from here!" Yuri, Bogdan, Alexsandr, and Dimitri all clambered out of the T-34, checking their weapons as the infantry caught up with them. At the head of the mass of Soviet riflemen stood a senior warrant officer, who paused to look at the dismounted tankers briefly.

"Good work men. You have done your job well tonight. Would you care to join us?" All of the tankers nodded and said some sort of affirmative as the warrant officer climbed up on the engine deck of Dimitri's T-34. For a few moments, all was silent, save for the sound of fires, the 100 plus infantrymen before them, and the snapping of the Red Banner in the wind.

"Gentlemen!" the warrant officer started. "Tonight has been incredibly hard, even more so than our superiors expected! However, we are undefeated! We stand at the gates to the enemy's final stronghold here! After tonight, we will be known all across the motherland as the soldiers and tankers who liberated Stalingrad from the clutches of the Fascist pigs! We will be heroes across the nation! So, from here on out, every step you take is not a step towards Moscow, but a step towards Berlin! Now, CHARGE!"

' _URAAAAAAAAAA!_ '

* * *

 **Captain Akira Nakamura**

 **Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force**

 **4th-Generation MBT Type 10**

 **7th Armoured Division**

 **71st Tank Regiment**

 **0934 hours**

"Careful Ichiro."

" _Hai._ "

Akira watched closely through the sights as the main battle tanks slowly drove through the remnants of the airfield. The thermal sights showed the ground to be littered with bodies, and almost everywhere he looked, Akira saw a fire raging. Walls of buildings had been blown out, and craters pockmarked the earth.

"What could have happened here?" Kaito murmured from his own sight. "This place is supposed to be deserted."

The tank continued rumbling through the airfield as Akira opened up the hatch and looked outside. The wind buffeted the tank commander before dying down briefly. As he observed the carnage around him, Akira realised he could hear the echoes of gunfire from the direction of the airstrip again. Before he could say anything about it, though, the wind picked back up, obscuring the noise from hearing.

Entering back into the tank, the commander picked up the radio and began to speak through it. "All units, gunfire heard from the direction of the airstrip. Proceed with caution, out." Akira waited for any responses, but the radio remained silent, not making a sound. "Ichiro, what did you do to the radio?"

"Hmmm?" The driver looked up, then looked to the radio beside him. Akira watched as the man flipped a few switches and tested the mike, but to no apparent avail. "It's dead, sir."

Akira hummed in disappointment as he continued looking around. As he was thinking, a loud curse from Kaito caused the captain to jump, knocking his head against the roof of the tank. "What the hell, Kaito?!" he shouted as he rubbed his now very sore head.

"Sorry sir...but…" The gunner shook his head as he looked through his gunsights. "The thermal sights are gone."

Akira looked through his own thermal sight as he heard Ichiro flipping switches and cursing in concert with Kaito. Indeed, the thermal sights had gone dark, now only showing the outside of the tank as it was; snowy, windy, and very hard to see.

"So, we can't see nor can we contact anyone." Akira stated as he pulled back from his sights. "What happened that all the electronics decided to die?" The other two men in the Type 10 simply shrugged and waited as Akira thought the situation over.

"We have our orders. Kaito, find the signal flags. Ichiro, continue driving. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious." The driver nodded and began driving the main battle tank again as Kaito handed over the signal flags. Grabbing the gunner's shoulder, Akira said "You're cleared to engage anything as you see fit. Be ready for anything."

Kaito nodded and returned to his position, looking through his viewports for any threats as Akira opened the hatch of the tank yet again. Making sure he could be seen clearly, he began signaling the tank to the rear.

' _Electronics have failed. Use of signal flags is required. Stay close and regard anything not ours as hostile. All units are free to engage.'_

* * *

 **Abandoned Airfield**

 **2 January 2025**

 **0942 hours**

The column of JGSDF Type 10 main battle tanks moved cautiously through the snow, growing ever closer to the airstrip as the storm above rumbled. Not far away, the final Soviet charge for control of the airfield was on the steps of the control tower, the German defenders fighting fiercely to the end.

Then, just as suddenly as it had happened before, the electrical storm above exploded in a flurry of activity, shaking the ground as the wind howled and sent snow flying, reducing the visibility to absolute zero.

Within a few moments, however, the storm stopped, leaving the five Japanese tanks alone in the middle of the abandoned airfield. The wind stopped howling, and the snow settled, returning the visibility to normal. The column of tanks stopped, and from the lead tank a figure exited the turret hatch, looking around in bewilderment. Save for some stubborn blazes that had survived the violent, dying seconds of the storm, not a trace of any previous existence remained...no more bodies, destroyed hulks of World War II-era tanks, or even pools of blood from the dead.

The figure walked a few paces as others appeared from the other tanks, watching as their commander tried to comprehend what had just happened. Finally, the man turned and started walking back to his tank, waving his arm in a large circle. One by one, the Japanese tanks left the area, leaving behind them nothing but the wind whistling through the dilapidated buildings of the abandoned airfield.

* * *

 **The end?** **Not quite...I still have some ends to tie up. Stay tuned for the next chapter that should be here by next week and some very important announcements.**

 **Also, sorry you didn't get to see Tigers vs. Type 10s...the information for those is still too classified to do any honest research on them. Also, explanation for why I used Type 10s instead of the Type 90 is that this is set in 2025, so I think it would make sense the Type 10 would be in active service by then.**

 **Until next time, folks! Stay tuned!**


	18. Epilogue

**Sorry that this is the end, folks...of this part.**

 **Also, two chapters in as many days...plus the author's note that will shortly follow this and I recommend reading.**

* * *

 **Epilouge**

" _Love is like war...easy to start...difficult to end...and impossible to forget._ "

-Unknown

 **Maho Nishizumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu**

 **9 January 2025**

 **2238 hours**

Maho sighed as she looked at the stack of files in front of her. It had been seven days since Kuromorimine and Pravda had been rescued from the chaos that had occurred, and she had heard nothing from Katyusha about Gerhard being found. From what she heard in meetings with the scientists, government officials, and military commanders, there was no hard evidence of there ever being German and Soviet soldiers at the airfield. However, everyone who knew about it agreed that, with so many eyewitnesses and even some photos, there was a slim chance that it was a lie.

A cough from across her desk caused Maho to look up to see Erika and Nicole standing at her door. She sat up, feeling a slight pain in her side where the Soviet rifle round had hit her what seemed like ages ago. Nicole held a thin folder in her hand, and both girls looked worried over the current state of their commander. "What is it?"

"What was the last time you had any sleep, Maho?" Erika questioned as the two walked in and sitting on the bed. The commander of the _Panzerkraft_ team spun her chair around to face her two comrades. She had a sneaking suspicion the two were sent by her mother to make sure she was okay; despite her strictness and adherence to traditional ways, Shiho Nishizumi did care for her daughters, even if she had an awkward way of showing it.

"It's been a while...I still haven't found anything specific." Maho motioned to the files before her. Once she had told her mother everything that had happened up in Abashiri and asked for some information, Shiho had retrieved stacks of records of German troops and units for World War II, and Maho had spent the entire voyage back home studying anything she could to find out what she wanted to. At some point, Erika and Nicole decided to help her go through at least some of the folders. "Why?"

Nicole walked up and handed the small folder to Maho, before returning to her seat beside Erika. "That's everything we could find on him." Maho raised an eyebrow at the look on the blonde's face as she opened up the file, looking through the information.

 _NAME: Köln, Gerhard L._

 _Branch: Lüftwaffe (Transferred to Heer, 1945)_

 _Date of Birth: 13 July 1919_

"Wow...you actually managed to find him." Maho said, surprised and a little relieved. It felt a little strange as she read the information on the German pilot that had helped them so much; after knowing him for so long in person, the file was reminding her that he never belonged in this time. "So, 1919...that makes him, what? A hundred and six or so?" Looking up at the other two, she asked "Think we can find where he lives?"

Erika and Nicole both found something other than Maho to look at, throwing a slight feeling of doubt into her. A little more wary, Maho continued reading through the file, reading his awards, achievements, and service history. As she reached the final part, she stopped, re-reading it to make sure her eyes weren't trying to fool her.

' _At the end of April 1945, now-Hauptmann Köln was involved with General Walther Wenck's breakout/evacuation operation from Berlin. What is known about him resides in the minds of the men who fought beside him. Witnesses say he managed to help evacuate civilians and soldiers through the Elbe corridor on the Tangermünde bridge throughout the battle. Three days later as Soviet forces closed in on the rescue operation, Hauptmann Köln is reported as having been hit by advancing Soviet units. He ordered his men to fall back as he took over a machine gun position and held off the advancing units. During a pause in combat, Hauptmann Köln's body was recovered from where he had given his final order. Records show him buried at Lommel German War Cemetery, Lommel, Belgium._

* * *

 **Erika Itsumi**

 **Kuromorimine Girls High School**

 **Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu**

 **2242 hours**

Erika watched her commander look up, her eyes slightly wet after reading what had happened to Gerhard. Even if she hadn't associated herself with the German pilot, Erika had heard from both Nicole and the small talk around the school about what had happened between him and Maho. Not to mention all the help that he had ended up giving them.

"So, I guess that's it then?" Maho said, closing the folder and setting it on her desk. "We can't even go tell him thank you?" Erika and Nicole both remained silent as their commander turned back around and shut off her computer. She sat like that for a few moments before standing up and facing them again. Erika noticed that Maho's face had regained her signature neutral look, but she saw a teardrop slowly trace it's way down her cheek before hitting the floor.

"Thank you both for this." Maho said. "Please tell my mother that I appreciate the concern, but there's no need to worry." Erika and Nicole both nodded, the underlying tone in Maho's voice getting the message to them quite clearly. The two girls swiftly exited the room before shutting the door behind them, standing there for a few moments.

"Well…"

"I'll go tell Shiho." Nicole said in a low voice. "You should keep an eye on her, Erika. You've known her longer than anyone on the _Panzerkraft_ team." The silver-haired girl nodded in agreement, and the two promptly split ways, each headed to do their own tasks for the evening as Maho contemplated what she had just learned, silent tears streaking down her face.

* * *

 _ **Oberleutnant**_ **Gerhard Köln**

 _ **Lüftwaffe,**_ **Tatsinskaya Detachment**

 **Control Tower, Tatsinskaya Airfield, Rostov Oblast**

 **25 December 1942**

 **0041 hours**

Gerhard sat silently and frozen as the forms of Soviet troops combed the area, looking for any survivors of their attack. It had confused him and the other soldiers greatly, but when the time-travel event happened again, it was as though the original attack had never stopped. The Red Army troops had stormed the control tower with nearly three times as many men as Gerhard had command of, and they swiftly took over every defence. In the final seconds of the battle, Gerhard had ordered the other troops that were still alive to fall back and hide. Now, he and three other soldiers, the only ones left, hid under the snow and watched as the Soviets shot any bodies they saw to ensure they were dead.

" _I think they're all dead, sir!_ "

" _Very well. All units, return to the tanks! We are victorious!_ "

A loud cheer went up from the assembled Soviets as they returned to their vehicles. Gerhard remained still for minutes, listening to the sound of T-34s start up and drive away. Just as he was about to move, he heard the crunch of snow underfoot, and a quiet voice say " _Looks like they either all ran or we actually killed them all._ _Let's go before we get left behind._ " The stragglers walked away hurriedly, leaving the air silent, save for the sound of Gerhard's own breathing. A tank started, revved its engine, and finally drove away, leaving the German soldiers alone in the night.

After another ten or so minutes, Gerhard slowly pushed himself up out of the snow, looking around as he stood. Finally deciding the Soviets well and truly had left, he let out a low whistle. The three other men came out of their hiding spots and regrouped on Gerhard, all looking at him for orders. Among them was the soldier that had convinced him to take command of the defence of the tower, now looking around in shock. The area was littered in the bodies of both Soviet and German soldiers, and fires blazed in the tower.

"Find weapons and ammunition." Gerhard ordered, clearing his head. "You-" he said, pointing to a soldat. "-and I are going to go in the tower and see if we can find a map of some sort and a compass. Once we do that, we need to scavenge for food supplies and head down to the airstrip. Hopefully we can find a Ju-52 and some fuel to get to a nearby airfield. Meet in the tower in about ten minutes." The men all nodded and dispersed to find weapons as Gerhard looked up into the night sky, where the moon and stars lit up the darkness. If he relaxed, he could almost believe he was back in Japan, 80 years from now.

' _I plan to keep my promise, Maho. One way or another, I will find you again and tell you everything I should have. With God as my witness, I will be reunited with you once more._ '

* * *

 **I'll see you all in the reviews, mates! Please, don't hold back...tell me how you feel.**


	19. Afterword

**Hello, my loyal readers...**

 **First off, I want to thank everyone, especially those who have been with me since I started this story a year and a half ago. The support I've been getting from all of you was especially inspiring to keep me going with _Cold Steel_ , and feedback from you is eventually what got me to put Gerhard and Maho as a couple, something I never planned to do in the first place. Also, I somewhat regret not remembering to show the Soviets encountering Kuromorimine's Maus...that would have been a brilliant battle.**

 ** _Cold Steel_ was a product of me listening to the Girls Und Panzer soundtrack while messing around in War Thunder with my brand-new KV-1. The idea just hit me, and I wrote it down, refined it a little, and ended up with this. And with the fairly large following that seems to have gathered around it, I am glad to announce that, as the epilogue may suggest, there, 100%, WILL BE a sequel to _Cold Steel_ , ideas for which have been circulating for ages.**

 **I have a couple special shout-outs to make to some very helpful folks, without whom I doubt this story would have gone very far.**

 **CaptainAshe179: You were a huge help in the early stages of this story, reviewing a lot of chapters before I released them to the public. I also have to thank you for the amazing character that Nicole is; she is yours after all, and I'm glad I did her justice. Feel free to ask me for help on any projects of yours at any time.**

 **Kristianthedane: Thank you for your help in correcting my mistakes I made translating English into German...I don't want to be someone that is trying to say one thing but ends up saying the exact opposite.**

 **Besides them, all of my reviewers, especially the constant ones who would stay with me through each month-long gap between chapters. The follows and favourites that everyone gave me were always an inspiration and would push me to get back working on the next chapter when I was having a bout of writer's block or just plain laziness.**

 **So, about that sequel: I plan to take a few weeks off to rest my fingers and get ready to graduate from high school, but you won't have to wait long. In the interim, I'll have to draft a summary for it and figure out how exactly I want it to go. Until then, keep an eye on my profile page, where you can usually find the most recent information regarding any of my works.**

 **Until next time folks! I hope you enjoyed this first fanfic of my first series, and I hope you stick around to see more! Until then mates! This is KonigstigerAce334 signing off.**


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